engleski

Ants and agriculture: a preliminary study of the ant community on annual and perennial crops

Ants (family Formicidae) are dominant insects of terrestrial ecosystems, whose activities are known to increase soil nutrient content (mostly nitrogen and phosphorus) and change its chemical and physical properties, including improving water infiltration due to their burrowing activities. Utilizing the ecosystem services of naturally occurring insects is an under-appreciated approach in agricultural intensification, but several studies have shown up to a 36% increase in crop yield due to the presence of ants on the studied fields. Furthermore, because some ant species are sensitive to land management, they are successfully used as indicators of soil-based ecosystem function in agricultural management throughout the world, but mostly in warmer climates. In order to investigate the ant communities associated with different agricultural practices in intensive crop production in Croatia, we sampled ants using pit-fall traps on annual and perennial crops, as well as in the natural area at the same locality. We present our preliminary findings and discuss future direction of using ants as ecological indicators and key regulators of important soil processes.

Formicidae ; soil ; ecological indicators ; agroecosystems

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