Table Of ContentMemoirs ofthe Museum ofVictoria 56(2):671-675 (1997) 28 February 1997
https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1997.56.69
ANT COMMUNITIES AS BIO-INDICATORS IN RELATION TO FIRE MANAGEMENT OF
SPOTTED GUM (EUCALYPTUS MACULATA HOOK.) FORESTS IN SOUTH-EAST
QUEENSLAND
Cas Vanderwoude,1 Alan N. Andersen2 and Alan P. N. House'
'Queensland Forestry Research Institute, Queensland Department ofPrimary Industries, MS 483, Fraser
Road, Gympie, Qld 4570. Australia
2Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, CSIRO, PMB 44 Winncllic, NT 0821. Australia
Abstract
Vanderwoude, C, Andersen, A.N. and House, A.P.N., 1997. Ant communities asbio-indi-
catorsinrelationtofiremanagementofspottedgum(EucalyptusmaculataHook.)forestsin
south-east Queensland. Memoirs ofthe Museum ofVictoria 56(2): 671-675.
Asapilottestofthepotential forusingantcommunitiesasbio-indicatorsin forestmoni-
toring programs, the effects of different fire regimes on ant community structure were
sbtuurdniiendgarteBgaiumpelseofS:taatnenuFaolrebsutrinnin1g9:9p4earinoddi1c99b5u.rTnihnrge(e2s-i3tesyehaarsd);beaenndsnuobjbeucrtneidngt.oTlownog-gtreirdms
of pitfall traps were established in each compartment, and ants were sampled monthly
b7e4tswpeeecnieMsafyoun19d9f4raonmdthAeprainlnu1a9l9l5y.bAurtonteadlosifte8,86s3pefcrioemsfthreompe4r2iogdeincealrlaywbeurrenreedcosirtdee,da,nwdi4t3h
from the unburned site.TherelativeabundanceofEyrean(arid)taxawas particularly high
(36%) and that ofBassian (cool temperate)taxa low(8%)at theannuallyburned site, with
the reverse true forthe unburned site(14%and 20%respectively). Burning frequency also
affected the dominance offunctional groups. The relative abundance ofDominant Doli-
choderinae(speciesofIridomvrmex) was positively related tofirefrequency, whileOppor-
tunists(mostlyspecieso(Rhvtidoponcra)comprised65%ofallantsattheunburnedsite,but
only 16% at the annually burned site. These site differences conform to known ant-fire-
habitat relationshipselsewhere inAustralia. Wehavenot onlyshown thatantcommunities
are sensitive to fire management practices in Bauple State Forest, but have demonstrated
that an effective ant sampling program is a practicable option.
Introduction indicators in the Australian environment
because:
There is increasing interest in the use of'indi- 1. theyare highlyabundantand diversein most
cator' groups of invertebrates for assessing and habitats;
monitoring ecological change associated with 2. they are functionally important at all trophic
land management practices (Rosenberg et al., levels;
1986; Noss, 1990; Spellerberg, 1993; Williams, 3. they can be sampled and sorted with relative
1993) In the context of forest management, a ease; ...,.,,
variety ofmajordisturbances (includingtimber 4. speciescompositionishighlysensitivet.oeco-
harvesting, fire and grazing) have the potential logical change, and
to be momtored using indicator groups. Such 5. spec.es can be classified into functional
monitoring has traditionally focused on vascu- groups which vary predictably in .elation to
ahtcrkpnloawnltesdagnedmevnetrtetbhraattest,hebsuet tthaexrae ipsrogvriodweinga e(Mnavjierronm1e9n8t3a;l Gresternesslsadea= nadnd Gdriesetnusrlbaadnec,e
limited view ofthe state of an ecosystem after 1984; Andersen, 1990 1995).
disturbance A more reliable indication of Antshavea longhistory ofuseasb.o-.nd.cators
emcvoscrvtsctbeSmtchea(lRthosisnbleirkeglyettoa..b,e19p8r6o;viSdpeedllebry- o1f98r3e,sto1r9a8t4i,on.9s8u5c;ceAsnsdfeorlsleonwin1g99m3ian)inagn(dMamjoerre,
here 199 (Williams 1993), and the recent recently have been incorporated into forestry
development of rapid' biodiversity assessment monitoring programs, especially in relation to
fechmques Oliver and Beattie, 1993, 1996) fire (Neumann 1992; York, 1994).
mmaaxkees imnvvcerutceubr.a^tes a realistic monitoring The Queensland Forestry Research Institute
has recently established a pilot ant survey pro-
ems are ideal candidates for use as bio- gram as a basis for their potential use as indi-
671
.
672 C. VANDERWOUDE
cators ofthe ecological effects offorest manage- trapps. Pitfalls were opened forseven dayseach
ment practices(Vanderwoudeetal., submitted). month from May 1994 to April 1995.
Ants have been surveyed at sites subject to dif-
Analysis
ferent burning regimes, and the differences in
ant communities at these sites are reported Antsweresorted tospecies, and speciesabun-
dances in each trap were square-root trans-
here.
formed to avoid distortions caused by large
Methods numbers of individuals falling into a few traps
(Southwood, 1978; Andersen. 1983, 1991). A
Study site species' total abundancewas defined asthe sum
Ourstudywasconducted in BaupleState For- of transformed abundances from individual
est (25° 55'S, 152°40'E). approximately 225 km traps. Data from thetwo plotswithin asitewere
N of Brisbane in south-east Queensland. The pooled for all analyses. Details of ant species
area ispart ofthe humid subtropics(Brown and composition aregiven elsewhere(Vanderwoude
Turnbull, 1986). Mean annual rainfall is 1100 et al., submitted), and the analyses presented
mm, with over 50% falling in the summer hereare restricted tositecomparisonsofspecies
months between December and March. richness, biogeographic profiles, and functional
Bauple State Forest consists mainly of open group composition.
eucalypt forest with an understorey of Acacia Each species was described as having Eyrean
species. Dominant canopy trees are Eucalyptus (arid), Bassian (cool-temperate) or Torresian
maculata Hook, and Eucalyptus drepanophy/la (tropical) affinities, or as being Widespread,
F. Muell. ex Benth., while the main understorey according to the distribution of the species-
trees are Acacia autacocarpa Cunn. ex Benth. group to which it belongs. Such designations
and Acacia leiocalyx (Domin) Pedley. Alphi- were based on the second author's understand-
tonia excelsa (Cunn. ex Fenzl) Reissack ex ing of the biogeography of the Australian ant
Benth. and the introduced weed Lantana fauna, following and extending those published
camara L. are also common in the understorey elsewhere (e.g. Andersen, 1993a; 1993b).
where the soils are deeper and more fertile. Species were classified into functional groups
Three sites within the forest had been sub- according to their habitat requirements and
jected to experimental burning regimes as competitive interactions, following Greenslade
follows: (1978)andAndersen(1990, 1995).Thesegroups
1 annuallyburned (314ha)bvspringfiressince are: Dominant Dolichoderinae; Subordinate
1952; Camponotini; Hot, Cold, and Tropical climate
2. periodically burned (423 ha) by spring fires specialists: Cryptic species; Opportunists: Gen-
every 2-3 years since 1973; and eralised Myrmicinae; and Specialist Predators.
3. unburned (296 ha) since at least 1946. Antspeciesrichnessandcomposition werecom-
Annual and periodic burning have resulted in pared across sites. The relative abundances of
the development ofa grassy ground layer and a DominantDolichoderinae,Generalised Myrmi-
reduction of woody understorey plants, while cinae,andOpportunistswereusedtoclassifythe
the absence of fire at the unburned site has ant communities of each plot following
resulted in a heavylitterlayerand theestablish- Andersen(1995)asatoolforexploringtheposs-
ment of a greater proportion of fire-sensitive ible impact ofdisturbance (fire) on community
understorey plants in favour ofgrasses (Henry, structure.
1961; Henry and Florence, 1966; House, 1995).
Sampling Results
Antswere sampled by pitfall traps within two A total of 88 species from 42 genera were
plotsat each site. Thesewereselected tocapture recorded, with species richnessbeinggreatest at
wmietnhtin-rseipltiecvaatresi.atNioinn,eanpidtfdalolntortaprsep(r1e8semntmtroe.adt.- tuhnebuanrnnueadllsyitbeu(r4n3edspseictiee(s7)4asnpdeciienst)e,rlmeeadstiaattethaet
testtubes inserted inpermanent sleeves, follow- the periodically burned site (63 species). These
ing Majer, 1978) were established in each plot, site differences were not simply artefacts of
as a 3 x 3 array with 5-m spacing. Preservative increased'trappability'atburnedsitesfollowing
was 70% ethanol to which a small quantity of fire-induced habitat modification (Vander-
glycerol had been added. Digging-in effects woude et al, submitted).
(Greenslade, 1973) were minimised by estab- Most ofthe 88 species recorded represented
lishing plots several weeks prior to opening the eitherWidespread (40%) or Bassian (29%) taxa.
d
ANT COMMUNITIES AND FIRE MANAGEMENT OF SPOTTED GUM FORESTS 673
with 20%and 1 1%havingTorresian and Eyrean Discussion
affinities respectively. The relative abundance
ofEyrean taxa was particularly high (36%), and Ant community response tofire
that of Bassian taxa low (8%) at the annually Sitespeciesrichness, biogeographical profiles,
burned site, with the reverse true for the andfunctionalgroupcompositionallvariedsys-
unburned site (14% and 20% respectively; Fig. tematically with fire frequency. With increasing
1). Antsfrom Widespread species-groups domi- fire frequency, species richness increased, the
nated each site, with the relative abundance of relative abundances ofEyrean taxa and Domi-
this group inversely related to frequency of nant Dolichoderinae increased, and the relative
abundances of Bassian taxa and Opportunists
burning.
The most abundant functional groups were decreased. Although the lackoftreatment repli-
Generalis—edMyrmicinae(particularlyspeciesof cation places constraints on the validity of
Pheidole 31% of total ants). Oppor—tunists attributingthese site differencesto theeffectsof
(particularly species ofRhytidoponera 28%) fire, the differences in vegetation structure are
and Domi—nantDolichoderinae(speciesofIrido- knowntobeduetofire(Henry, 1961; Henryand
myrmex 27%). Together, these three groups Florence, 1966; House, 1995), and the above
accounted for 86% oftotal abundance and 41% variation in ant community structure isconsist-
ofspecies richness. The relative abundances of entwiththesedifferences. In northernAustralia,
greatest ant diversity occurs in open (savanna)
functional groups varied markedly across sites
(Fig. 2). The relative abundance of Dominant habitats, and the rainforest fauna is relatively
depauperate (Taylor, 1972; Andersen and
Dolichoderinaewas positivelyrelated tofire fre- Majer, 1991; Andersen, 1992). Open habitats
quency. Conversely, Opportunists comprised
65% of all ants at the unburned site, but only a(rDeomidonmainntatDeodlicbhyodesrpiencaiee)s, omfanIyridoofmywrhimcehx
16% at the annually burned site. Following
Andersen (1995), ant community classifications have Eyrean affinities (Andersen 1993b).
Species of Iridomyrmex are commonly absent
at theannuallyburned, periodicallyburned, and
unburned sites are DD3GM, DD2GM and from heavily shaded habitats, where Opportun-
DDIOPP istsare often the most abundant ants(Andersen
respectively.
and Majer, 1991; Andersen and Reichel, 1994;
ReichelandAndersen, 1996), reflectingalackof
competition from behaviourally dominant
ants.
These fire-habitat-ant relationships are
Widespread
reflected in theant community classificationsof
DDTropical DD2GM
Eyrean each site. In a national context,
DD3GM
IIIiI111-1'I (periodically burned) and (annually
burned) communities are characteristic ofopen
sites experiencing warm climates, whereas
DD OPP(unburnt)communitiesarecharacter-
I
Annually Periodically istic ofshady environments (Andersen, 1995).
burned burnt.' The responses of ant communities to fire
Figure Relativeabundanceofantsfromeachbiogco- reported here parallel those recorded from sav-
1
graphical group. anna forests ofmonsoonal Australia (Andersen,
1991). Compared with unburned savanna,
annually burned sites have higher species rich-
ness and a far greater abundance of Iridomyr-
mex, with sites burned every 2 years supporting
intermediate communities. Annually burned
DDominantDniklm savanna supported DD3GM communities
BOpportunists
(Andersen, 1995), as did the annually burned
siteinthepresentstudy. Unburnedsavannasup-
DD1GM
ported communities (Andersen,
1995), with Generalised Myrmicinae being the
mostabundantants,ratherthanOpportunistsas
was the case in our unburnt site. We attribute
Figure 2 Relative abundanceofthethree majorfunc- this difference to the warmer climate, and
tional groups at each site.
VANDERWOUDE
674 C.
generally higher abundance of Generalised restoration successat a uranium mine in tropical
Myrmicines, ofthe monsoonal region. Australia. Restoration Ecology 1: 156-167.
Andersen, A.N.. 1993b. Ant communitiesofthe Gulf
Ants as bio-indicators inforestry management region of Australia's semi-arid tropics: species
Ourstudyhasshownthatantcommunitiesare composition, patterns of organization, and
sensitivetofire managementpracticesin Bauple biogeography. Australian Journal ofZoology 41:
StateForest,thussatisfyingoneofthemajorcri- 399-414.
teria for selection of suitable indicator taxa. Andersen A.N., 1995. A classification of Australian
Importantly, we havealsodemonstrated that an ant communities, based on functional groups
which parallelplant life-formsin relationtostress
eofpfteicotni.veWiantth-osuatmpalniyngexppreorgiernacmeiisnainpvrearctteibcraabtlee a29n.ddisturbance.JournalofBiogeography22: I5-
survey and systematics, one of us (the senior Andersen, A.N. and Majer. J.D., 1991. The structure
author) was able to run the sampling program and biogeography ofrainforest ant communities
and effectively sort specimens to species, after in the Kimberley region of northwestern Aus-
some initial training and further consultation tralia.Pp333-346 in: McKenzie. N.L..Johnston,
with a specialist (the second author). Moreover, R.B. and Kendrick. P.J. (eds). Rainforests of
the use of functional groups within a general Australia. Surrey Beatty and Sons: Chipping
framework of community classification in AnderNsoernt,on.A.N. and Reichel, H.. 1994. The ant
relationtoenvironmentalstressanddisturbance (Hymenoptcra: Formicidae) fauna of Holmes
(Andersen, 1995), means that patterns of Jungle,arainforeslpatchintheseasonaltropicsof
community composition could be interpreted Australia's Northern Territory. Journal of the
without detailed knowledge of the biology of Australian EntomologicalSociety 33: 153-158.
individual species. Brown.A.G.andTurnbull,J.W., 1986.TheAustralian
In the future, we intend to test the suitability environment. Pp 1 1-27 in: Turnbull J.W. (ed.).
ofusing ant community responses to detect the Multipurpose Australian Trees and Shrubs.
more subtle impacts of forestry management Australian Centre for International Agricultural
Research: Canberra.
practices. Using the results ofthe present study
as baseline data, we have commenced an ant Greentsralpasd:ed,igPg.iJn.gM-.i.ne1t9f7e3c.ts.SIanmspelcitensgSaonctisau.wxit2h0:pi3t4fa3l-l
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4. Canberra.
This work was funded by the Queensland Greenslade.J.andGreenslade,P., 1984. Invertebrates
and environmental assessment. Environmental
Department of Primary Industries Resource
Management group and conducted by the HenrPyl,aNn.nBi.n.g 31:96113.-1C5o.mplete protection versus pre-
Queensland Forestry Research Institute. scribed burning in the Maryborough hardwoods.
QueenslandForestServiceResearchNotesNo. 13:
1-13.
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