Impact of Forest Seral Stage on use of Ant Communities for Rapid Assessment of Terrestrial Ecosystem Health
نویسندگان
چکیده
Bioassessment evaluates ecosystem health by using the responses of a community of organisms that integrate all aspects of the ecosystem. A variety of bioassessment methods have been applied to aquatic ecosystems; however, terrestrial methods are less advanced. The objective of this study was to examine baseline differences in ant communities at different seral stages from clear cut to mature pine plantation as a precursor to developing a broader terrestrial bioassessment protocol. Comparative sampling was conducted at nine sites having four seral stages: clearcut, 5 year recovery, 15 year recovery, and mature stands. Soil and vegetation data were also collected at each site. Ants were identified to genus. Analysis of the ant data indicated that ants respond strongly to habitat changes that accompany ecological succession in managed pine forests, and both individual genera and ant community structure can be used as indicators of successional change. Ants exhibited relatively high diversity in both early and mature seral stages. High ant diversity in mature seral stages was likely related to conditions on the forest floor favoring litter dwelling and cold climate specialists. While ants may be very useful in identifying environmental stress in managed pine forests, adjustments must be made for seral stage when comparing impacted and unimpacted forests.
منابع مشابه
The effect of ecophysiography on the quantitative characteristics of DBH, height, basal area, crown diameter and canopy area of trees in mountain forest communities (Case study: Oak-hornbeam community in Arasbaran forest)
Ecophysiography is the geography of the earth and the relationship between physiography and the ecosystem. Ecophysiography is a basis for planning processes to study the characteristics of terrestrial systems concerning the interactions between terrestrial physiography and living organisms. Due to the current state of ecosystems and the increase in natural disasters for ecosystem sustainability...
متن کاملSocioeconomic Impact Assessment of Deforestation of Hyrcanian Forests on Local Communities
The present study was conducted to assess socio-economic impacts of deforestation of Hyrcanian forests in two basins of Do-Hezar and Se-Hezar, northern Iran. To this end, changes in the forest area were detected over the period between 1990 and 2006 based on land use land cover maps derived from Landsat and IRS satellite images. The land use changes were investigated by enhancement of the image...
متن کاملRapid Vulnerability Assessment of Lavizan Urban Forest Park
Although the vulnerability assessment of forest parks is used to determine the threats they face, a rapid and holistic framework has not been established well. The primary objective of this study is to adopt a framework for rapid assessment of forest parks vulnerability, examined in Lavizan forest park in Tehran (Iran) as the case study. The vulnerability assessment has been conducted, using th...
متن کاملRapid Vulnerability Assessment of Lavizan Urban Forest Park
Although the vulnerability assessment of forest parks is used to determine the threats they face, a rapid and holistic framework has not been established well. The primary objective of this study is to adopt a framework for rapid assessment of forest parks vulnerability, examined in Lavizan forest park in Tehran (Iran) as the case study. The vulnerability assessment has been conducted, using th...
متن کامل