Seminars and Workshops
Preliminary checklist of ants from Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala India.
Authors: Merin Elizabeth George, Dr. G Prasad
Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the Agasthyamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats, in India. Despite being in a biodiversity hotspot, there has been no study of ants from this region to date. The lack of data on ants from this region makes it difficult to monitor any need for conservation efforts. Therefore, a study is being done to map the ant diversity. This is a preliminary checklist of the study for a period of 5 months from April 2021 to August 2021. The Wildlife Sanctuary was divided into 5 sites at two elevations (240m above msl, and 550m above msl) based on the habitats. The ants were collected, preserved and identified according to ALL (Ants of Leaf Litter) protocol. Soil samples were also collected from the site to measure the different soil factors and correlate the same with the ant diversity. A total of 85 species of ants were identified from a totals of 1471 individuals. Ants belonging to the subfamilies Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae and Psuedomyrmicinae were found. The most number of species were from Myrmicinae (46.1%) followed by Formicinae (31%). There are also a few range extensions of ants for which papers are currently in progress. Further work is being done in the Wildlife Sanctuary and a clear picture on the ant diversity will soon be published.
International Conference on Sustainable Living
August 4-6, 2022
Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum, Kerala, India
National Webinar on Recent Advances in Taxonomy and Bioecology of Invertebrates
February 16-18, 2022
Department of Zoology,
University of Kerala
PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF Myrmicaria brunnea AND Odontomachus simillimus ANT NESTS ON SOIL PROPERTIES
Merin Elizabeth George1, Dr. G Prasad2
1, 2 Department of Zoology, Kariavattom Campus, University of Kerala, 695582, India
1megkattimattom@gmail.com, 2probios1@gmail.com
Ants are important for the terrestrial environment as soil movers and energy channelers. They are known to move the same amounts of soil as earthworms and sometimes even exceed them. They aid in succession of habitats and are known to be great dispersers of seeds. The movement of animal and plant materials into their nest makes the nests high in nitrogen and phosphorus. There high values are essential for plant growth and shows the importance of ant nests to the ecosystem. This study aims to find the Organic Carbon, pH, Moisture and Temperature in ant nests and compare it with the nearby non-nest soils. The nests soil of Myrmicaria brunnea and Odontomachus simillimus, were collected and compared to non-nest soils to find out the effect the nests make in the soil. The Organic Carbon was significantly higher in nest samples than in Non-Nest samples. The pH was found to be lower in nest soils than in non-nest soils. The Moisture levels were higher in the nest soils than in non-nest soils. In addition correlation showed that Organic carbon was strongly positively correlated to Moisture. Therefore, it can be concluded that ant nests do impact the soil properties.
Taxomara 2021
December 11-12, 2021
Iberian Association of Myrmecology, Spain
Preliminary checklist of ants from Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala India.
Authors: Merin Elizabeth George, Dr. G Prasad
Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the Agasthyamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats, in India. Despite being in a biodiversity hotspot, there has been no study of ants from this region to date. The lack of data on ants from this region makes it difficult to monitor any need for conservation efforts. Therefore, a study is being done to map the ant diversity. This is a preliminary checklist of the study for a period of 4 months from April 2021 to July 2021. The Wildlife Sanctuary was divided into 5 sites at two elevations (240m above msl, and 550m above msl) based on the habitats. The ants were collected, preserved and identified according to ALL (Ants of Leaf Litter) protocol. Soil samples were also collected from the site to measure the different soil factors and correlate the same with the ant diversity. A total of 78 species of ants were identified from a totals of 718 individuals. Ants belonging to the subfamilies Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae and Psuedomyrmicinae were found. The most number of species were from Myrmicinae (46.1%) followed by Formicinae (31%). The least number of species was from Pseudomyrmicinae (2%). In addition, biodiversity indices were calculated to compare the inter-site diversity differences. This study shed light on the biodiversity of ants in the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary. There are also a few range extensions of ants for which papers are currently in progress. Further work is being done in the Wildlife Sanctuary and a clear picture on the ant diversity will soon be published.
National Seminar on Biodiversity Conservation
November 21-23, 2019
Department of Zoology,
University of Kerala
Ant Fauna of University of Kerala Campus, Kariavattom
Anupa K Antony, Merin Elizabeth George, Rachel Jacob, Ardra S Kumar, Ciciliya Kiran, and
G. Prasad
Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, Kariavattom
The ants monopolise around 25% of the biomass. They belong to family Formicidae, of the order Hymenoptera. They are incredibly relevant to the environment as ecosystem engineers, seed dispersers, and even as farmers. They have associations with various organisms especially plants. The ants in India have not been wholly mapped yet. So, there is a need for new studies on ant diversity. This study is about the Ant Fauna of University of Kerala Campus, Kariavattom. This is the first study concerning ants on this campus. The study conducted from the year 2017-2019. It involves both the North and South Campuses. The ants were collected using pit fall traps, inverted umbrella method, and all-out-search. The ants were preserved in 70% ethanol and identified using stereomicroscope. The indices used for assessing the species diversity were Shannon-Weiner, Shannon-Evenness and Margalef’s indices. A total of 68 species were identified. The number species are from the subfamily Myrmicinae. In additions to this ants were present from subfamilies Dolichoderinae, Formicinae and Ponerinae. The species Trichomyrmex aberrans, Carebara spinata, Strumigenys aduncomala, Crematogaster rothenyi civa, Crematogaster anthracina, Crematogater biroi and Nylanderia indica, were found to be new to Kerala. The species Lophomyrmex quadrispinosus, Monomorium dichrome, Tetramorium bicarinatum and Crematogaster subnuda were new to Kerala. The present study the first of its kind and is helpful for further studies on the ant diversity in the region.