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Title The role of ants in minesite restoration in the Kakadu region of Australia's Northern Territory, with particular refernce to their use as bioindicators / Alan N Andersen...[et.al.]
Published Barton, A.C.T : Supervising Scientist, 1998

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Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  333.76514 And/Roa  AVAILABLE
Description ix, 98 pages : illustrations, map ; 30 cm
Series Supervising Scientist report, 1325-1554 ; 130
Supervising Scientist report ; 130
Contents 9.2. Rapid assessment using functional groups -- 9.3. Influence of ants on minesite restoration -- 9.4. Recommendations -- Appendix 1. Ant species-abundance data --Appendix 2. Ant genus-abundance data -- Appendix 3. Ant genus-species data -- Appendix 4. Ant functional group-abundance data -- Appendix 5. Ant functional group-species data -- Appendix 6. Ants recorded in sweep samples -- Appendix 7. Beetles collected in sweep samples -- Appendix 8. Grasshoppers collected at study sites -- Appendix 9. Termites recorded at paper baits -- Appendix 10. Maps of seed removal during myrmecochory trials -- Appendix 11. Ants observed feeding on arils in situ. highly corre
Executive summary -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1. Background -- 1.2. Ants as bioindicators -- 1.3. Responses of ants to stress and disturbance -- 1.4. Rapid assessment techniques -- 1.5. Scope of study and structure of report -- Part A. Ant-habitat associations - 2. Study sites -- 2.1. Introduction -- 2.2. Vegetation classification -- 3. Ant-habitat associations -- Part B. Ants as bioindicators -- 4. Invertebrate assemblages -- 4.2.1. The assemblages -- 4.2.2. Ants as indicators -- 5. Other insect species -- 5.2.2. Ants as indicators -- 6. Soil microbial activity -- 6.1.1. Litter decomposition -- 6.1.2. Microbial biomass and respiration -- 6.2.1. Litter decomposition -- 6.2.2. Microbial biomass and respiration - Part C. Influence of ants on minesite restoration - 7. Seed-harvesting by ants -- 8. Seed dispersal by ants -- 9.1. Ants as bioindicators --
Summary Second, the indicator performance of ants at the functional group level is in most cases comparable, and sometimes superior, to that at the species level. Given that ants need only be identified to genus to be assigned to functional groups, the use of functional groups instead of species is a legitimate, cost-effective measure for rapid assessment. It is therefore recommended that ants be included in biological monitoring of restoration programs in the region. Ideally, ant communities should be analysed at both species and functional group levels, but the use of functional groups alone would be adequate. A specific sampling protocol is recommended
Site species richness was highly correlated with plant species richness (r = 0.695 for all plant species; r = 0.663 for woody species only). Five measures of ant community composition were analysed, covering the species, genus and functional group levels. Bray-Curtis association matrices based on ant community composition were highly correlated (r ranging from 0.492 to 0.665) with association matrices based on plant species composition. Data were obtained on the ordinal composition of invertebrate assemblages in the soil, on the ground and on ground vegetation, and on species composition of beetles, grasshoppers and termites. Correlation analyses were performed on site association matrices based on these data and site association matrices based on five measures of ant community composition
The desired outcome was the development of procedures for using ants to assess restoration success following mining in the Ranger uranium mine region. A total of 39 sites were selected to represent the full range of sclerophyll habitats and disturbance histories in the region. They comprised 22 natural (ie relatively undisturbed by human activity) sites, ten disturbed (representing a wide range of human disturbances) sites, and seven sites at various stages of rehabilitation on Ranger's main waste rock dump. All vascular plant species occurring at each site were surveyed during March 1994. Ants were sampled on three occasions at each site using pitfall traps, recording a total of 162 species from 32 genera
The goal of land rehabilitation following mining in environmentally sensitive areas is often ecosystem restoration, rather than simply revegetation. This is the case at Ranger uranium mine (RUM) in the Alligator Rivers Region of Australia's Northern Territory. Effective methods of monitoring ecological restoration are therefore required. Ants have frequently been used as indicators of restoration success following mining in northern Australia, but the extent to which ants actually provide a reliable indication of ecological change has been poorly documented. This study aimed, primarily, to investigate the degree to which ants provide an indication of the general status of ecosystems and, secondarily, to examine the direct role of ants in ecosystem restoration
There was only a marginal correlation between ant community composition and soil invertebrate assemblages (r ranging from 0. 194 to 0.282; only 10 sites sampled), but a good correlation with ground-foraging invertebrates (0.23 8-0.34 1; all 39 sites), and an even higher correlation with invertebrates on ground vegetation (0.471-0.675; 31 sites). Ant community composition was correlated with the species composition of all insect groups studied (beetles: 0.398-0.533, 31 sites; grasshoppers: 0.412-0.454, 27 sites; termites: 0.168-0.280, 39 sites). A litter decomposition experiment was conducted during the 1993/94 Wet season, measuring biomass loss of leaves of Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Acacia auriculiformis. Eucalyptus leaves decomposed far more rapidly than those of Acacia
as disturbance does not appear to lead to increases in either harvester ant populations, or rates of seed harvesting (which, during 1992 and 1993 respectively, averaged 27% and 32% at natural sites, 26% and 28% at disturbed sites, and 6% and 14% at waste rock sites). Disturbance, on the other hand, has a major impact on seed dispersal by ants, primarily through its influence on the distribution and abundance of ant species. On waste rock sites, for example, no seeds were transported further than 50 cm (compared with up to 13 m at other sites). The influence of this on seedling establishment is unknown. Two major conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, ant communities in the Ranger uranium mine region provide a very good general indication of the state of ecosystems in which they occur
but rates of decomposition did not vary markedly across sites. Soil microbial biomass and respiration, on the other hand, did vary markedly across sites, and were correlated with ant species richness. This correlation was particularly high (r = 0.638) at disturbed and waste rock sites. Studies were conducted on the potential influence of ants, through their interactions with seeds, on ecological restoration following disturbance. Elsewhere in Australia, it is common for sites severely disturbed by human activity to be colonised by high densities of harvester ants, resulting in unusually high rates of seed predation. This could have a serious impact on revegetation following disturbance. However, this is unlikely to be a problem in the Ranger uranium mine region
Bibliography Bibliography: pages 58-62
Notes Also available via the World Wide Web
Commonwealth of Australia 1998
Supervising scientist report no:130 1325-1554
Subject Abandoned mined lands reclamation -- Australia -- Kakadu National Park (N.T.)
Abandoned mined lands reclamation -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Ants -- Ecology -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Ants -- Effect of habitat modification on -- Australia -- Kakadu National Park (N.T.)
Ants -- Effect of habitat modification on -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Biological monitoring -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Indicators (Biology) -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Restoration ecology -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Uranium mines and mining -- Environmental aspects -- Australia -- Northern Territory -- Kakadu National Park
Author Andersen, Alan N. (Alan Neil), 1957-
Australia. Supervising Scientist
Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (Australia)
ISSN 1325-1554
ISBN 0642243336