Diversity of ants species in different habitat mosaics of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanical Garden (Howrah, West Bengal, India)

Authors : Arka Goswamı, Arijit Chatterjee, Sheela Saroj

Pages : 21-31

Doi:10.38059/biodiversity.698157

View : 350 | Download : 2176

Publication Date : 2020-03-31

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae ) occupy a wide range of ecological niches and exploit various food resources either as herbivores or as predators or scavengers. This study establishes the diversity of ants in an ex-situ conservation site dedicated for plants known as Indian Botanical garden situated amidst a congested city.   It also documents the relation of ant community structure with different habitat mosaics present within this protected area. For this study pit fall trap was used as collection method and amalgamated within quadrat sampling (total 16 quadrats and each quadrat contains 9 pit fall traps placed uniformly) distributed in four different habitats and repeated in two consecutive months. All the specimens were collected, preserved and identified meticulously. Total 27 species of ants from 19 genera and 6 subfamilies are documented from the whole study area. This study also reflects differences in diversity among the habitats. Among different habitats present in the Indian Botanic Garden, ‘Garden-Nurseries’ (Shannon_H =2.214 and Simpson_1-D=0.8333) and ‘Wild Bushes and Tree groves’ (Shannon_H =2.105 and Simpson_1-D=0.8182) are two most diverse habitats and ‘Open scrubland with grasses’ is the most dominant one (Dominance_D = 0.4354, Berger-Parker = 0.6512, Shannon_H =1.521 and Simpson_1-D=0.5646). This study clearly gives an idea about the community structure of the ants and reflects its relation with the habitats in a man-made ex-situ conservation site which establish the stability and conditions of this ecosystem.
Keywords : Karınca topluluğu, Hindistan, tür çeşitliliği, tür toplulukları, habitat mozaikleri

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