Abstract
Native grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems in south eastern Australia. Conservation of grassland remnants and development of effective indicator groups to monitor their quality is a high priority. Recent surveys of epigaeic invertebrates have revealed several candidate groups for this. Ants are a popular focal group for invertebrate surveys in the region. The ant species richness and functional groups on four series of grassland sites in Victoria suggest that small scale heterogeneity is sufficiently high that the predictive indicator values of ants are limited, and that ants may not be sufficiently sensitive to floristic change to employ them alone in monitoring grassland condition in the region.
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New, T. How Useful are Ant Assemblages for Monitoring Habitat Disturbance on Grasslands in South Eastern Australia?. Journal of Insect Conservation 4, 153–159 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009668817271
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009668817271