Microbiological activity of soils populated by Lasius niger ants

Ants are the most widespread colonial insects assigned to the Hymenoptera order. They actively use soil as a habitat; being numerous, they create a specific microrelief. It is shown that ants affect microbiological processes of the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The carbon content in anthills remains s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eurasian soil science 2009-07, Vol.42 (7), p.788-792
Main Authors: Golichenkov, M. V., Neimatov, A. L., Kiryushin, A. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ants
Denitrification
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Fixation
Formicidae
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Growing season
Hymenoptera
Insects
Lasius niger
Methane
Microbiology
Nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation
Soil Biology
Soil microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Soils
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Ants are the most widespread colonial insects assigned to the Hymenoptera order. They actively use soil as a habitat; being numerous, they create a specific microrelief. It is shown that ants affect microbiological processes of the carbon and nitrogen cycles. The carbon content in anthills remains stable throughout the growing season, and the respiration intensity is about three times higher as compared with that in the control soil. The highest methane production (0.08 nmol of CH 4 /g per day) in the anthill is observed at the beginning of the growing season and exceeds that in the control soil by four times. The most active nitrogen fixation (about 4 nmol of C 2 H 4 /g per h) in the anthill takes place in the early growing season, whereas, in the control soil, it is observed in the middle of the growing season. At the same time, the diazotrophic activity is higher in the control soil. The lowest denitrification in the anthill is observed at the beginning and end of the growing season. The dynamics of the denitrification in the anthill are opposite to the dynamics of the diazotrophic activity. We suppose that these regularities of the biological activity in the anthill are related to the ecology of the ants and the changes in their food preferences during the growing season.
ISSN:1064-2293
1556-195X
DOI:10.1134/S1064229309070096