Myrmecologische Nachrichten 7: 9-16; printable
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_007:009
- Open Access: CC BY 4.0
- Year: 2005
- Title: Effects of management practices on ant species richness and community composition in grasslands (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- Journal: Myrmecological News
- Volume: 7
- Pages: 9-16
- Type of contribution: Original Article
- Supplementary material: No
- Abstract:
The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of four types of grassland management (silage meadows, hay meadows, meadow pastures and cattle pastures) on species richness and composition of ant communities. No impact of management type on ant species richness and community composition could be revealed. In contrast, moisture and total nitrogen content of the soil had a strong influence on the number of ant species. We could not find a relationship between species richness of ant communities and plant diversity. It is concluded that differences in intensity between the four management types were probably not strong enough for affecting ant communities differentially. Thus, assuming the maintenance of low intensity agriculture, a mosaic of different regimes of grassland management seems not to be imperative for maintaining ant diversity in mesic grasslands of marginal regions of Central Europe. In contrast, environmental conditions are important and should be considered in grassland management schemes aiming at protecting ant diversity.
Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2005 The Author(s).
- Key words: Grassland, marginal region, low-intensity management, species richness.
- Publisher: The Austrian Society of Entomofaunistics
- ISSN: Print: 1994-4136 - Online: 1997-3500