Journal article
Local-scale spatial dynamics of ants in a temperate agroecosystem
CS Chong, AA Hoffmann, LJ Thomson
Austral Ecology | WILEY | Published : 2011
Abstract
At the local scale, spatial aggregations in ant distribution are often thought to be driven by competitive interactions among dominant ant species, although niche preferences and habitat heterogeneity might also lead to patchiness. Nevertheless, competitive interactions might be particularly important in agroecosystems that are structurally more homogeneous than natural habitats. The spatial patterns of ants in two Australian vineyards were investigated by intensive pitfall trapping to examine if non-random patterns occur and whether these might be the result of competitive species interactions as well as the influence of woody vegetation adjacent to the vineyards. Null model analyses sugges..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Michael Nash, David Sharley and Angelos Tsitsilas for field and laboratory assistance. Specimen verifications were generously provided by Alan Andersen (CSIRO) for Sadliers ants, Brian Heterick (Curtin University of Technology) for Monomorium ants, Simon Hinkley (Melbourne Museum) for all morphospecies, Archie McArthur (South Australia Museum) for Camponotus ants, and Steve Shattuck (CSIRO) for Iridomyrmex ants. We thank Lyndoch managers and Steve Sadlier for access to their vineyards and anonymous referees for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This research was supported by two grants from Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment and a grant from the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.