Sl. Peck et al., USING ANT SPECIES (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AS A BIOLOGICAL INDICATOROF AGROECOSYSTEM CONDITION, Environmental entomology, 27(5), 1998, pp. 1102-1110
Ant species assemblages have been used as biological indicators of env
ironmental condition in many different ecosystems. To assess the poten
tial of using ants as environmental indicators of agroecosystem condit
ion, ants were collected from a stratified random sample of agricultur
al fields planted in annually harvested herbaceous crops at 90 sites i
n North Carolina and Virginia The ants were identified to species and
correlations with soil, management and crop variables were examined as
the Ist step in developing an environmental indicator of agroecosyste
m condition. A total of 41 species of ants was found. Ant species asse
mblages were found to differ significantly between the fields and the
field margin. Ant species assemblages were correlated with soil variab
les, tillage practices, and insecticide use, suggesting that ants have
potential as a biological indicator of agroecosystem condition.