Ant Distribution in a Southern English Heath

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Abstract
An 8-ha area of heath was sampled for ants, height above sea level, soil moisture, organic matter, temperature and vegetation. Soil temperature was integrated by a new chemical device. Four predominant species of ants (Lasius niger, Lasius alienus, Tetramorium caespitum, Formica fusca) were present and the habitat charactetistics of each species and of the ant-free areas are described. The variables were highly correlated and were analyzed by principle component methods. Various influences emerged, notably that ants are absent from areas that can probably be characterized as relatively infertile and that, though dry, are cool in early summer; that two species of Lasius differ in relation to water supply; and that the unrelated Lasius alienus and Tetramorium caespitum co-exist in dry heath with only a tendency to differential environmental frequencies. The further ecological and geographical distributions of the species are discussed in relation to this study.