Biotic and Abiotic Characteristics Influencing Nest Location and Trophic Relationships of the Fungus-Growing Ant Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (Formicidae: Attini)
type: CreativeWork
description: Trachymyrmex septentrionalis represents the only species of fungus-growing ant in the southeastern United States. T. septentrionalis cultivates a symbiotic fungus on which the ants feed. Worker ants collect plant and animal debris to feed the fungus. These ants are common in Florida, but increasingly scarce as they near the northern extent of their range in New Jersey. Colonies of T. septentrionalis occur in patches throughout Blackwater Ecological Preserve, a longleaf pine forest in southeastern Virginia. Blackwater Ecologic Preserve is a 129 hectare tract of land, located in Isle of Wight county, that is undergoing a regimen of controlled burning to increase the population of longleaf pines ( Pinus palustris). Over an 8 year period, multiple abiotic and biotic factors were studied to better understand what conditions determine the distribution of T. septentrionaliscolonies within an ecosystem and how those factors may affect the ability of individual colonies to collect sufficient substrate to sustain the fungal symbiont and feed the colony. Soil temperature (23.5 vs. 25.1°C), air temperature (22.3 vs. 26.4°C), and light intensity (302.8 vs. 595.2 lumens) were all found to be significantly higher around inactive nests. Plant cover, which would affect light intensity around the nests, was significantly higher above active nests (71.1%) than over inactive nests (57.9%). Soil samples from T. septentrionalis populated and adjacent, unpopulated sites resulted in soil moisture being significantly lower in the upper 60 cm of soil in populated versus unpopulated areas. No consistent differences were found for soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, or pH between populated and unpopulated sites. Colony densities, calculated for each nesting site, ranged from 0.072 to 0.145 nests/m 2, and these densities can be correlated to soil and air temperatures, light intensity, and vegetation cover. In an attempt to understand the patchy distribution of T. septentrionalis in B…
abstract: Trachymyrmex septentrionalis represents the only species of fungus-growing ant in the southeastern United States. T. septentrionalis cultivates a symbiotic fungus on which the ants feed. Worker ants collect plant and animal debris to feed the fungus. These ants are common in Florida, but increasingly scarce as they near the northern extent of their range in New Jersey. Colonies of T. septentrionalis occur in patches throughout Blackwater Ecological Preserve, a longleaf pine forest in southeastern Virginia. Blackwater Ecologic Preserve is a 129 hectare tract of land, located in Isle of Wight county, that is undergoing a regimen of controlled burning to increase the population of longleaf pines ( Pinus palustris). Over an 8 year period, multiple abiotic and biotic factors were studied to better understand what conditions determine the distribution of T. septentrionaliscolonies within an ecosystem and how those factors may affect the ability of individual colonies to collect sufficient substrate to sustain the fungal symbiont and feed the colony. Soil temperature (23.5 vs. 25.1°C), air temperature (22.3 vs. 26.4°C), and light intensity (302.8 vs. 595.2 lumens) were all found to be significantly higher around inactive nests. Plant cover, which would affect light intensity around the nests, was significantly higher above active nests (71.1%) than over inactive nests (57.9%). Soil samples from T. septentrionalis populated and adjacent, unpopulated sites resulted in soil moisture being significantly lower in the upper 60 cm of soil in populated versus unpopulated areas. No consistent differences were found for soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity, or pH between populated and unpopulated sites. Colony densities, calculated for each nesting site, ranged from 0.072 to 0.145 nests/m 2, and these densities can be correlated to soil and air temperatures, light intensity, and vegetation cover. In an attempt to understand the patchy distribution of T. septentrionalis in B…
author: Howell, Jonathan Paul
keywords: Attini, Formicidae, Fungus-growing ant, Nest location, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology
date published: 2009-07-01T07:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:34:53Z
provider: Old Dominion University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Old Dominion University