The impact of ant bioturbation and foraging activities on surrounding soil properties

The ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) communities of the central interior of British Columbia: Adaptations to a temperature-constrained environment.

“…In these studies, ants have been shown to to play a role in seed dispersal (Gorn et al 2000;Heithaus 1981), grain consumption (Brown et al 1979), decomposition (Haines 1978), defoliation (Cherrett 1968) and soil nutrient turnover (Wagner et al 1997;Nkem 2000;Risch et al 2005). Although some of these functions may also occur in higher latitude coniferous forests, for example, soil nutrient turnover (Frouz et al 2003), two specific ecological roles have been well established in ecosystems more typical of this province.…”

“…Despite the ubiquity of ants in Canadian forests, and their linkage to many ecosystem processes (Gorn et al 2000;Nkem 2000;Risch et al 2005), there has been no attempt to define necessary habitat requirements through presence-absence modelling. Ecological work on the boreal ant fauna in Fennoscandia has been more extensive, but has been largely focused on ecological factors shaping community structure.…”

Conservation Agriculture and Soil Quality– An Overview

“…Termites and ants respresent an important groups of siol microbes under arid and semiarid regions where earthworms are normally absent or scarce (Lobry de Bruyn and Conacher, 1990). In general, both ant as well as termites was reported to improve soil infiltration by enhancing soil aggregation and porosity (Nkem et al, 2000). Some group of termites also having tendency of feeding on soil and help in formation of microaggregates either through production of faecal pellets or by mixing the soil with saliva (Bignell, 2010).…”

“…Ants well known agent which can change soil bio-physico-chemical behaviour of soil by enhancing SOC turnover, causing pedoturbation and by reducing Ca, Mg, K and Na concentrations, especially in boundaries of their hills and paths in soil (Nkem et al, 2000). It has been hypothesized that nutrients stored in active mounds of ants are not readily accessible to plants as well as agents of soil organic matter decomposition, therefore ants cause redistribution of nutrients in the soil when their mound is abandoned.…”

Chemical properties of forest soils as affected by nests of Myrmica ruginodis (Formicidae)

“…Nest-building ants extensively modify the physical and chemical properties of soil (Dlusskij 1967;Petal 1978Petal , 1991Lobry de Bruyn & Conacher 1990;Lobry de Bruyn 1999;Nkem et al 2000), and create specific and patchy environments for other soil biota and plants (Petal 1978(Petal , 1991Wang et al 1995;Laakso & Setala 1997;Wagner et al 1997;Dauber et al 2006). The effect of ants on soil structure and nutrient enrichment, however, is highly variable (Dlusskij 1967;Petal 1978Petal , 1991Lobry de Bruyn & Conacher 1990;Lobry de Bruyn 1999).…”