Interactions between Liometopum microcephalum (Formicidae) and other dominant ant species of sympatric occurrence

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Authors	PETRÁKOVÁ Lenka SCHLAGHAMERSKÝ Jiří
Year of publication	2011
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Community Ecology
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Science
Citation
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.12.2011.1.2
Field	Ecology
Keywords	encounters; space partitioning; territorial ants
Description	Interactions of Liometopum microcephalum with other two territorial ants also nesting in or foraging on trees, Lasius fuliginosus and Formica rufa, were studied in South Moravia (Czech Republic), at the northwestern border of its range, in 2005–2009. L. microcephalum defends its nest and foraging trees. Its distribution area is fragmented and in the north restricted to river floodplains. We investigated whether competition by other behaviourally dominant ant species could limit its distribution. We studied the partitioning of space (occupancy of foraging trees) between the species and its potential competitors. Encounters of single workers were observed in laboratory experiments.
Related projects:	Diversity of Biotic Communities and Populations: Causal Analysis of variation in space and time