PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 11: Ecological Studies on Military Installations.
Presiding: B Collins
Monday, August 4. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 203.
Effects of habitat disturbance on diversity and abundance of ants in the Southeastern Fall-Line Sandhills.
Graham, John*,1, Hughie, Hoyt1, Roth, Susan1, Wrinn, Kerri1, Krzysik, Anthony2, Duda, Jeff3, Freeman, Carl4, Emlen, John3, 1 Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, USA2 Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona, USA3 Western Fisheries Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA4 Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
ABSTRACT- We examined the effects of habitat disturbance on diversity and abundance of ants in the Fall Line Sandhills, at Fort Benning, Georgia. We collected ants from highly, moderately, and lightly disturbed sites, using pitfall traps, sweep nets, and by active searching. Disturbed areas were used for military training; the canopy and soil was damaged by tracked and wheeled military vehicles. Highly disturbed sites had fewer trees, more bare soil, a shallower A-horizon, and soils that were highly compacted. In three years of sampling, we collected 109,690 ants (30 species in 5 subfamiles). Highly disturbed areas had fewer species than did moderately or lightly disturbed areas. The disturbed ant communities were also less equitable, and were dominated by active Dolichoderinae, especially Dorymyrmex pyramicus. Prescribed burning at several of our sites had no detectable influence on either species diversity or abundance.
Key words: longleaf pine ecosystem, multidimensional scaling, community composition, canonical correspondence analysis