Sampling for ants in different-aged spruce forests: A comparison of methods

Abstract

It is necessary to use special sampling method for studying of each animal group. However each method has its specificity and describes the studied community a bit differently. Three common methods for sampling of ants were compared: soil excavation, pitfall traps and baits. Ants were sampled in 25 patches in a large spruce forest in the Czech Republic during 2005 and 2006. Each patch represented one of five age classes (0–2, 3–5, 8–12, 26–41 and 85–105 years old), and the patches were located in five sites such that the five patches in each site formed a chronosequence. The percentage of variability in ants as explained by other sampling techniques was as follows: 60.0% of the variability in bait data was explained by pitfall trap data, while only 19.7% of the variability in pitfall trap data was explained by excavation data. Species and numbers of ants on baits were strongly affected by bait type: Myrmica species preferred honey whereas Formicinae preferred tuna bait. Assembly composition in pitfall traps varied significantly between study sites. The position of sampling site in landscape (location in the forest regardless of the immediate habitat type where the trap was located) hence strongly affected ants. Proportions of ants in particular methods were equal in the majority of cases. For excavation samples, ant numbers and species were more influenced by the immediate habitat than the wider habitat, but the opposite was true for samples from pitfall traps.