Names: Julia Marie Layno, Julianna Savage, Junfeng Lin, Jeffrey Haile, Vishvum Sriram

Abstract

Ants are fundamental to the wellness of our environment and have

disproportionately positive effects, making them a keystone species. By examining the
diversity of ants between natural, green areas and man-made pavement, we may gain
insights as to the effect humans have on our natural habit. Given this, our null
hypothesis is that there is no difference in the diversity of the ants between the
pavement and the green habitat.

We used two pieces of cookies and left one on the pavement and the other one
on the green habitat. After about an hour we went back with ziploc bags and then
collected the ants in the pavement and the green habitat. We put the ants that we
collected in the refrigerator for about a week. After a week, we counted the number of
small ants and large ants then identified the species of the ants under a microscope.

By arranging our data into a graph and chat, we can see that the error bars
overlap. Based on this, our null hypothesis is supported that there are no differences in
ant diversity between pavement and green habitats. In our ant collection experiment, we
observed the Big-Headed Ant (Pheidole spp.), and Little Black Ant in the green space
and the Pavement ant (Tetramorium Caespitum) as well as the Acrobat Ant in the
paved area. We determined that the Big Headed Ants prefer the Green habitat type.
Our data supports our null hypothesis. This means that according to our experiment,
ants in general do not prefer green areas to paved areas or visa versa. The species
diversity of the ants we collected did change with the habitat to a certain extent. Some
species were only present in the Green habitat, such as the Big Headed Ant and
Chinese Needle Ant. There were also species that were only present in the Paved
Habitat, such as the Carpenter Ants, Rover Ants, and Acrobat Ants. There were many
ant species that were present in both habitats, such as the Little Black Ants, Fire Ants,
Pavement Ants, and Thief Ants. Big Headed ants are known for causing structural
damage. These ants are known for the destruction of Hawaii’s lowland arthropod and
beetle fauna. These ants are also known to threaten native ant species along with
nesting birds and turtle populations by eating hatchlings. Pavement ants are known as
invaders of homes due to pavement being a good habitat for their species. Pavement
ants are known to disperse seeds, recycle nutrients, and aerate the soil.

Changes in climate can impact ant populations through various positive and
negative implications. For example, a rising temperature may lead to an extension of an
ant colony’s foraging season causing them to have an increased food supply. An NC
State Study discovered that many ants did not adjust their behavior in response to
warming temperatures. Instead, they persisted in sub-optimal microhabitats. This study
concluded that some ants might not be able to adjust their behavioral mannerisms in
response to the warming climate. Some biotic factors that might impact ant populations
are successful symbiotic fungus regurgitation, predation, and microbial pathogens.
Abiotic factors that might impact ant populations are radiant sunlight, temperature, and
density. Soil moisture exert selection pressures can affect the ant queen. There were
two ant species that were present in 2011 that are no longer present in 2023. This could
be due to the increase in global temperatures and ants being unable to adapt to them,
competition among species, invasive ant species, an increase in sunlight levels, and soil
moisture.

Figure 1: Average ant species density on green and paved areas ±2SE at NCSSM.
Table 1: Species richness for ants found on green areas at NCSSM.
Species Count Proportion (Pi) ln*Pi Pi*(ln*Pi)

Fire Ant 180 0.0833 -2.4849 -0.2071

Little Black Ant 953 0.4412 -0.8182 -0.3610

Big-Headed Ant 425 0.1968 -1.6258 -0.3199

Thief Ant 275 0.1273 -2.0611 -0.2624

Pavement Ant 322 0.1491 -1.9033 -0.2837

Chinese Needle 5 0.0023 -6.0684 -0.0140

Ant

Total 2160 -1.4482

Table 2: Species richness for ants found on paved areas at NCSSM.

Species Count Proportion (Pi) ln*(Pi) Pi*(ln*Pi)

Little Black Ant 1358 0.708 -0.345 -0.244

Fire Ant 3 0.002 -6.460 -0.010

Carpenter Ant 2 0.001 -6.866 -0.007

Pavement Ant 312 0.163 -1.816 -0.295

Rover Ant 1 0.001 -7.559 -0.004

Thief Ant 201 0.105 -2.256 -0.236

Acrobat Ant 41 0.021 -3.845 -0.082

Total 1918 -0.880