Wood Ant Ecology and Conservation

About this book

Wood ants play an ecologically dominant and conspicuous role in temperate boreal forests, making a keystone contribution to woodland ecosystem functions and processes. Wood ant taxonomy and global distributions set the scene for this text's exploration of wood ants as social insects, examining their flexible social structures, genetics, population ecology, and behaviour, from nest-mate recognition to task allocation. Wood ants' interactions with their environment and with other organisms are essential to their success: competition, predation and mutualism are described and analysed. Bringing together the expertise of ecological researchers and conservation practitioners, Wood Ant Ecology and Conservation provides practical and theoretical advice about sampling and monitoring these insects, and outlines the requirements for effective conservation. This is an indispensable resource for wood ant researchers, entomologists, conservationists and ecological consultants, as well as anyone interested in social insects, keystone species and the management and conservation of forest ecosystems.

Contents

1. Introducing wood ants: evolution, phylogeny and distribution / Jenni A. Stockan, Elva J. H. Robinson, James Trager, Izumi Yao and Bernhard Seifert
2. Wood ant reproductive biology and social systems / Arnaud Maeder, Daniel Cherix, Christian Bernasconi, Anne Freitag and Samuel Ellis
3. Population genetics of wood ants / Pekka Pamilo, Perttu Seppä and Heikki Helanterä
4. Where and why? Red wood ant population ecology / Anita C. Risch, Samuel Ellis and Hayley Wiswell
5. Colony and species recognition among the Formica ants / Stephen J. Martin
6. Interspecific competition and coexistence between wood ants / Therese Johansson and Heloise Gibb
7. Wood ant foraging and mutualism with aphids / Timo Domisch, Anita C. Risch and Elva J. H. Robinson
8. Wood ants and their interaction with other organisms / Elva J. H. Robinson, Jenni A. Stockan and Glenn R. Iason
9. Contribution of wood ants to nutrient cycling and ecosystem function / Jan Frouz, Veronika Jílková and Jouni Sorvari
10. Diversity, ecology and conservation of wood ants in North America / James Trager
11. Sampling and monitoring wood ants / Anne Freitag, Jenni A. Stockan, Christian Bernasconi, Arnaud Maeder and Daniel Cherix
12. Threats, conservation and management / Jouni Sorvari
13. Future directions for wood ant ecology and conservation / Elva J. H. Robinson and Jenni A. Stockan

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Biography

Jenni A. Stockan is an entomologist and environmental researcher at the Department of Environmental and Biochemical Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen. Her research covers tree-insect interactions, and riparian and wetland ecology.

Elva J. H. Robinson is a Lecturer in Ecology at the Department of Biology, University of York. Her research area is the behavioural ecology of social animal groups, with particular focus on the organisation of ant societies.


Contributors:
- Jenni A. Stockan
- Elva J. H. Robinson
- James Trager
- Izumi Yao
- Bernhard Seifert
- Arnaud Maeder
- Daniel Cherix
- Christian Bernasconi
- Anne Freitag
- Samuel Ellis
- Pekka Pamilo
- Perttu Seppä
- Heikki Helanterä
- Anita C. Risch
- Hayley Wiswell
- Stephen J. Martin
- Therese Johansson
- Heloise Gibb
- Timo Domisch
- Glenn R. Iason
- Jan Frouz
- Veronika Jílková
- Jouni Sorvari