Ground dwelling ants as surrogates for establishing conservation priorities in the Australian wet tropics

Yek, Sze Huei, Williams, Stephen E., Burwell, Chris J., Robson, Simon K.A., and Crozier, Ross H. (2009) Ground dwelling ants as surrogates for establishing conservation priorities in the Australian wet tropics. Journal of Insect Science, 9 (12). pp. 1-12.

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Abstract

This study aims to identify a set of areas with high biodiversity value over a small spatial scale within the Australian Wet Tropics. We identified sites of high biodiversity value across an altitudinal gradient of ground dwelling ant communities using three measures of biodiversity. The three measures considered were estimated species richness, complementarity between sites and evolutionary history. The latter measure was derived using the systematic nomenclature of the ants to infer a surrogate phylogeny. The goal of conservation assessments could then be achieved by choosing the most diverse site combinations. This approach was found to be valuable for identifying the most diverse site combinations across an altitudinal gradient that could ensure the preservation of terrestrial ground dwelling invertebrates in the Australian Wet Tropics.

Item ID: 4836
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1536-2442
Keywords: altitudinal gradient, species richness, complementarity, conservation assessments, evolutionary history, tropical biology
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Journal of Insect Science: "Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed." http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Yek S, Willliams SE, Burwell C, Robson S, Crozier RH. 2009. Ground dwelling ants as surrogates for establishing conservation priorities in the Australian wet tropics. 12pp. Journal of Insect Science 9:12, available online: insectscience.org/9.12

Date Deposited: 05 Aug 2009 03:17
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity @ 100%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9603 Climate and Climate Change > 960399 Climate and Climate Change not elsewhere classified @ 50%
96 ENVIRONMENT > 9609 Land and Water Management > 960909 Mountain and High Country Land and Water Management @ 50%
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