The Australian ants of the genus Monomorium are revised. Fifty-nine species are recognised. Of these, 41 are described as new: Monomorium aithoderum, M. albipes, M. anderseni, M. anthracinum, M. arenarium, M. bifidum, M. bihamatum, M. brachythrix, M. burchera, M. capito, M. carinatum, M. castaneum, M. crinitum, M. decuria, M. disetigerum, M. draculai, M. durokoppinense, M. elegantulum, M. eremophilum, M. euryodon, M. flavonigrum, M. lacunosum, M. legulus, M. longinode, M. macarthuri, M. majeri, M. megalops, M. micula, M. nanum, M. nightcapense, M. nigriceps, M. parantarcticum, M. petiolatum, M. pubescens, M. ravenshoense, M. rufonigrum, M. shattucki, M. silaceum, M. stictonotum, M. striatifrons, and M. xantheklemma. Thirteen species pass into synonymy: M. armstrongi with M. whitei, M. broomense and M. ilia with M. laeve, M. donisthorpeiand M. fraterculus with M. fieldi, M. flavipes and M. insularis with M. leae, M. foreli with M. sordidum, M. howense with M. tambourinense, M. macareaveyi with M. bicorne, M. sanguinolentum with M. rubriceps, M. subapterum with M. rothsteini, and M. turneri withM. gilberti. Sixteen infraspecific forms are also synonymised: M. kilianii obscurelluminto M. kilianii, M. laeve nigriusand M. laeve fraterculus into M. fieldi, M. ilia lamingtonensisinto M. laeve, M. rothsteini humilior, M. rothsteini leda, M. rothsteini doddi and M. subapterum bogischi into M. rothsteini, M. rothsteini squamigena, M. rothsteini tostum and M. sordidum nigriventris into M. sordidum, M. fraterculus barretti and M. sydneyense nigella into M. sydneyense, M. gilberti mediorubra into M. gilberti, and M. rubriceps cinctumand M. rubriceps rubrum into M. rubriceps. Seventeen species and one subspecies are unchanged. Monomorium kiliani reverts to M. kilianii, M. kilianii tambourinenseis raised to species status, M. occidaneus is here treated as a species inquirenda, and M. flavigaster is removed from the genus Monomorium. Since the generic status of the latter taxon is uncertain, M. flavigaster is here regarded as incertae sedis. The supposedly extralimitalMonomorium talpa is synonymised under Monomorium australicum. At a higher taxonomic level the South American genus Antichthonidris is synonymised under Monomorium. Seven species-groups are proposed for the Australian fauna, (the bicorne-, falcatum-, insolescens-, kilianii-, longinode-, monomorium-, and rubriceps-groups). A cladistic analysis was undertaken of species for which all castes were examined (identifiable males and/or queens were lacking for all members of the falcatum-, insolescens- and longinode-groups). In all, fifteen species of Australian Monomorium were examined (M. bicorne, M. whitei, M. striatifrons and M. rufonigrum from the bicorne-group, M. crinitumand M. kilianii from the kilianii-group, M. fieldi, M. laeve, M. rothsteini, M. sordidum and M. sydneyense from the monomorium-group, and M. centrale, M. leae, M. euryodon and M. rubriceps from the rubriceps-group), together with Monomorium antarcticum(from New Zealand) and the Neotropical Antichthonidris denticulatus. The taxon used for the outgroup was the Neotropical ant Megalomyrmex modestus. Using the PAUP program, 37 characters for worker, queen and male castes were analysed. The clade incorporating the tiny generalists (M. fieldi, M. laeve, M. sordidum, and M. sydneyense), together with M. rothsteini, was found to be the clade most strongly supported as a monophyletic grouping. In this analysis M. euryodon was the sister taxon to the above clade. These ants were shown on this analysis to share a common ancestor with the other members of the rubriceps-group, with M. antarcticum and A. denticulatus, and with thekilianii-group. The relationships between these latter four sets of species were left unresolved, except that M. crinitum was shown to be the sister taxon to M. kilianii. The large, arid zone species in thebicorne-group were also shown as ancestral to the other Australian Monomorium. A key is provided to enable researchers to identify the workers of all Australian Monomorium, as well as extralimital species established in Australia.

What forces structure ecological assemblages? A key limitation to general insights about assemblage structure is the availability of data that are collected at a small spatial grain (local assemblages) and a large spatial extent (global coverage). Here, we present published and unpublished data from 51 ,388 ant abundance and occurrence records of more than 2,693 species and 7,953 morphospecies from local assemblages collected at 4,212 locations around the world. Ants were selected because they are diverse and abundant globally, comprise a large fraction of animal biomass in most terrestrial communities, and are key contributors to a range of ecosystem functions. Data were collected between 1949 and 2014, and include, for each geo‐referenced sampling site, both the identity of the ants collected and details of sampling design, habitat type, and degree of disturbance. The aim of compiling this data set was to provide comprehensive species abundance data in order to test relationships between assemblage structure and environmental and biogeographic factors. Data were collected using a variety of standardized methods, such as pitfall and Winkler traps, and will be valuable for studies investigating large‐scale forces structuring local assemblages. Understanding such relationships is particularly critical under current rates of global change. We encourage authors holding additional data on systematically collected ant assemblages, especially those in dry and cold, and remote areas, to contact us and contribute their data to this growing data set.

Sampling of invertebrate fauna was carried out on Mt Coot-tha, between 25 February and 11 March 1992, to determine whether the presence of the coastal brown ant, Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius), affected the abundance and diversity of other invertebrates. Four plots were sampled; in two the coastal brown ant was present and in two it was absent. The overall abundance of invertebrates did not differ significantly between plots. The abundance of CoUembola did vary significantly, but intraplot variability was large. Mite numbers did not differ significantly between plots, except for the family Laelapidae. Abundance of other ant species did not differ significantly between plots, but there was a difference in species composition; Dolichoderinae and Ponerinae were absent or poorly represented in plots where the coastal brown ant was present.

The relationship between levels of dominance and species richness is highly contentious, especially in ant communities. The dominance-impoverishment rule states that high levels of dominance only occur in species-poor communities, but there appear to be many cases of high levels of dominance in highly diverse communities. The extent to which dominant species limit local richness through competitive exclusion remains unclear, but such exclusion appears more apparent for non-native rather than native dominant species. Here we perform the first global analysis of the relationship between behavioral dominance and species richness. We used data from 1,293 local assemblages of ground-dwelling ants distributed across five continents to document the generality of the dominance-impoverishment rule, and to identify the biotic and abiotic conditions under which it does and does not apply. We found that the behavioral dominance-diversity relationship varies greatly, and depends on whether dominant species are native or non-native, whether dominance is considered as occurrence or relative abundance, and on variation in mean annual temperature. There were declines in diversity with increasing dominance in invaded communities, but diversity increased with increasing dominance in native communities. These patterns occur along the global temperature gradient. However, positive and negative relationships are strongest in the hottest sites. We also found that climate regulates the degree of behavioral dominance, but differently from how it shapes species richness. Our findings imply that, despite strong competitive interactions among ants, competitive exclusion is not a major driver of local richness in native ant communities. Although the dominance-impoverishment rule applies to invaded communities, we propose an alternative dominance-diversification rule for native communities.

Introduction: An assessment of whether rehabilitated mine sites have resulted in natural or novel ecosystems requires monitoring over considerable periods of time or the use of space-for-time substitution (chronosequence) approaches.