The ant fauna of Castelporziano Presidential Reserve (Rome,Italy) as a model for the analysis of ant community structure in relation to environmental variation in Mediterranean ecosystems |
| |
Authors: | Cristina Castracani Donato A Grasso Alberto Fanfani Alessandra Mori |
| |
Institution: | 1.Dipartimento di Biologia Evolutiva e Funzionale,Università degli Studi,Parma,Italy;2.Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo,Università degli Studi La Sapienza,Rome,Italy |
| |
Abstract: | Ants are often used as ecological indicators in environmental monitoring programs, but rarely in Europe, probably because
of a lack of baseline knowledge on the relationship between ant community structure and environmental variation. We present
this baseline knowledge for Italian ecosystems that are typical of the Mediterranean climate, in order to assess the value
of ants as ecological indicators in this biogeographic zone. Sampling areas were selected inside the Castelporziano Natural
Reserve (Rome, Italy). The elevated variety of habitats and diverse ecological conditions, as well as the different levels
of human impact in the Reserve, make this area a suitable location to develop and test biological indicators of environmental
quality. The ant community structure was compared among several Mediterranean ecosystems using pitfall trapping, multidimensional
scaling, the indicator species analysis and the Functional Groups Approach. Key factors for differences in ant community structure
seem to be the presence/absence of water, the level of light and microhabitat diversity. Our results suggest that Castelporziano
is an informative area in order to develop a study model for the Italian ant fauna and the Functional Group Approach is a
promising procedure to associate differences in ant community structures with differences in habitat stress and disturbance. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|