The biogeography and structure of ant communities were examined over a
12-month period at a dry open eucalypt forest in south-eastern Queensland.
Three sites were monitored, each with a distinct long-term burning history:
burned annually since 1952, burned periodically since 1973, and unburned since
1946. A total of 89 species from 42 genera was recorded over all trapping
periods, with the richest genera being Iridomyrmex,
Camponotus and Pheidole, each with
eight species. Site species richness was 74, 63 and 43, respectively, at the
annually burned, periodically burned and the unburned site. We compared the
ant community in this forest with those at other forested sites in eastern
Australia. Overall, the south-eastern Queensland community was located on the
overlap between the Bassian and Torresian zones (not dominated by either
element), while the functional-group composition resembled those of both
tropical savannas and cool-temperate woodlands. There were readily discernible
differences between sites in terms of biogeographical and functional-group
composition; and between the unburned site and both burned sites in terms of
abundance and species richness. The relative abundance of
Iridomyrmex spp. increased with burning frequency while
the relative abundance of Bassian species decreased with burning frequency.
Species richness and abundance at the burned sites were similar, but
substantially higher than at the unburned site. The community characteristics
of the three sites were readily distinguishable, indicating that ant
communities may play a valuable role in detecting ecological changes in
forested landscapes in south- eastern Queensland.
