The conservation status of ant communities along the Wubin-Perenjori Corridor

Abstract

The ant fauna in three farm paddocks, 16 road verges and three areas of native vegetation along the Wubin-Perenjori Road Conservation Corridor was assessed. Ninety-three species were found dUring the survey, most of which were represented along various regions of the road verge. Verges without native vegetation supported few more species than did the farm paddocks. The richness of the ant fauna was still low on narrow (5 m wide) verges, but on Wide (20 m) verges which supported nave vegetation there were as many species per plot as in similar areas of native vegetation. The relative composition of the different ant functional groups also differed With the condition and width of the road verge. These results have important implications for the conservation of invertebrates, the provision of food for insectivorous vertebrates and for the assessment of road verge environmental quality.