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    Ants visible from space influence soil propertes and vegetaton in steppe rangelands of Iran

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Ghobadi, M.
    Agosti, D.
    Mahdavi, M.
    Jouri, M.
    Majer, Jonathan
    Date
    2016
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Ghobadi, M. and Agosti, D. and Mahdavi, M. and Jouri, M. and Majer, J. 2016. Ants visible from space influence soil propertes and vegetaton in steppe rangelands of Iran. Sociobiology. 63 (4): pp. 1063-1068.
    Source Title
    Sociobiology
    DOI
    10.13102/sociobiology.v63i4.1195
    ISSN
    0361-6525
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63417
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Messor nests in Iranian steppe rangelands can be so large that they are visible from space. When compared with reference soils, nest soil is higher in nutrients and lower in pH. Ant nests also homogenise the nutrients throughout the upper soil profile, although this effect diminished when nests are abandoned. The denuded circles around nests are surrounded by rings of vegetaton that differ in species compositon from that of the surrounding vegetaton, while abandoned nests are colonized by a different range of plant species. Data on the density and abundance of Messor cf. intermedius nests indicate that the soil in less than 1% of the area is impacted, although the cumulatve effect of so many nests influences the plant species and vegetaton structure of the region. The data indicate the importance of these ants in altering soil chemical compositon and plant diversity, which could have flow-on effects to the diversity of animals.

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