Abstract
Aarey Milk Colony (AMC) is 16km2 of forested area, acts as a buffer to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai. It has gardens, lakes, recreation spots, and a nursery. It also harbors 32 cattle farms, animal husbandry centers. Apart from urbanization and forest degradation, this forest harbors great biodiversity which includes the leopard as a top predator and also lesser-known species of amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods. Considering ants as important bio indicators and the vulnerability of AMC to development plans, a study on the diversity of ants was conducted from January 2016 to May 2016. Four methods were used for data collection of ants—pitfall trap, line-transect, quadrate, and all-out search. A total of 35 species under 24 genera under six subfamilies– Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Pseudomyrmecinae, and Cerapachyinae were recorded during this study. The Simpson’s diversity index (0.88) for the pit fall trap indicates that the diversity of ants in the AMC is fairly high. This increases the importance of this forest land which is presently facing a mass destruction of trees.
Highlights
Aarey Milk Colony (AMC) was notified in 1949 which covers an area of 16km2
It is situated on the southwestern boundary of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai
The ants being more local than other insects they can be efficiently used as a bio-indicator (Stephens & Wagner 2006; Underwood & Fisher 2006; Jonathan et al 2007; Abril & Gomez 2013)
Summary
Aarey Milk Colony (AMC) was notified in 1949 which covers an area of 16km2. High species richness, occupancy of high topographic level and being highly responsive to environmental changes ants are considered as excellent bio-indicators (Jonathan 1983). 163 species of ants, in 52 genera, were reported by Mathew & Tiwari (2000) from Meghalaya. Kharbani & Hajong (2009) recorded 28 species from 18 genera from the West Khasi hills, Meghalaya.
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