USING ANT SPECIES (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AS A BIOLOGICAL INDICATOROF AGROECOSYSTEM CONDITION

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.