Community Structure of Ant in Seven Habitats in Xuzhou,Jiangsu Province

4 subfamilies,9 genera and l3 species of ant specimens were collected by trap and sample plot methods in Xuzhou area,Jiangsu Province,China.The dominant species are Tetramorium caespitum,Messor aciculatus,Monomorium chinense and Camponotus japonicus,of which the first two species are widely distributed over the studied area.Based on these samples,species composition,species diversity and similarity of ant communities in seven habitats are analyzed,and the extent of influence by human activity and habitat heterogeneity are examined.It is found that the species composition and the diversity indexes of ant communities are different in each of the seven habitats.The number of species,Shannon-Wiener's diversity index(H′) and Pielou's evenness index(J) in deciduous pine and cypress forest are the highest,while the diversity index in vegetable and garden farmlands is the lowest.The more the habitats are disturbed,the lower the diversity index of ant community is.The highest diversity indexes were observed in the habitats with high quality and high heterogeneity.For seven ant communities,the comparability analysis and ordination analysis for community structure by correlation analysis and principal components analysis(PCA) are carried out and basically identical results are obtained.The results show that the similarity of ant communities among dry farmlands,rice farmlands,vegetable and garden farmlands and residential districts is the highest,and the similarity among other habitats is much lower.