Ants - Southern California [ds104]

Pitfall sampling of ants in Southern California was conducted by the USGS in conjunction with the herpetofauna study to provide baseline data and distribution information for ant species in the region. The dataset contains spatial and temporal information on ant captures. Dataset includes capture records from October 1999 to August 2006. Accuracy of individual data fields has been reviewed and data collection efforts are ongoing. METHODS Array Design: Ants are sampled in association with the herpetofauna arrays. Five ant pitfall traps (50mL centrifuge tubes) filled with approximately 25mL of Sierra brand antifreeze are installed at each herpetofauna array. Holes are made in the soil using a metal stake. A PVC sleeve constructed from a 1" pipe is inserted into each hole and an ant pitfall trap is inserted into the sleeve so that the opening of the centrifuge tube is flush with the ground. The five traps overlay the existing herpetofauna array in the shape of a "+",with traps set 1m away from each of the three end buckets and the center bucket, and the fifth ant trap is installed 15m from the center bucket between the end buckets that form the most obtuse angle. The four corners of the "+" are separated by approximately 20 m. Each pitfall trap is left open for ten consecutive days. In order to reduce and prevent incidental captures between sampling efforts, the sleeves are closed using empty 50 ml centrifuge tubes with the lids remaining on. The ants are identified and counted after the samples are sorted to remove ants from non-ants and debris. When necessary, representative specimens of unknown species are sent to Dr. Andrew Suarez at UC Berkeley and Dr. Phil Ward of UC Davis to be identified. The five tubes from each array are pooled for analysis to determine the number and relative abundance of ant species at each array. Winged queens and males are recorded, but not used in analysis for reports, since they may originate from outside the site. Raw array data was gathered by USGS researchers and submitted to their database. Those data relating to ant species were downloaded from the database and compiled for inclusion into the BIOS system. The spatial points were generated using ArcMap 8.3 from the latitude and longitude coordinates of the array records. Ant data was related to each point feature by an array ID field in the database. These data were compiled as a part of the Southern California Data Integration Project. REFERENCES: Gallegos, E.A., Backlin, A.R., Fisher, R.N., and C.D. Haas. 2004. Inventory and management needs: Study of Chino Hills State Park Herpetofauna and Ants with Comments on Small Mammals, June 1998 - June 2003. Prepared for California State Parks. 48 pp. Hathaway, S.A., Fisher, R.N., and C.J. Rochester. 2002. Biological inventory of Santa Ysabel Ecological Reserve, San Diego County, California: First year report. Prepared for the Nature Conservancy. 26 pp. Hathaway, S.A., O'Leary, J., Fisher, R.N., Rochester, C., Haas, C., McMillan, S., Mendelsohn, M., Stokes, D., Brehme, C., Pease, K., Brown, C., Yang, B., Ervin, E., and M. Warburton. 2002. Baseline Biodiversity Survey for the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. Prepared for California Department of Fish and Game. 91 pp., 17 appendices. Laakkonen, J., Fisher, R.N., and T.J. Case. 2001. Effects of different land cover, habitat fragmentation, and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews in southern California. Journal of Animal Ecology 70:776-788. Madden-Smith, M.C., Brehme, C.S., Mendelsohn, M.B., Clark, D.R., Rochester, C.J., Matsuda, T., Hathaway, S.A., and R.N. Fisher. 2004. Baseline Biodiversity Survey for the Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area and Continued Bird Monitoring at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, 2003-2004. Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Game. 86 pp. Pease, K.H., Fisher, R.N., 2001. Report on Pitfall Trapping of Ants at the Biospecies Sites in the Nature Reserve of Orange County, California. Prepared for the Nature Reserve of Orange County and The Irvine Co. Open Space Reserve. 15pp. Pease, K., Fisher, R.N., 2000. Report on Pitfall Trapping of Ants at the Biospecies Sites in the Nature Reserve of Orange County, California. Prepared for Nature Reserve of Orange County and The Irvine Co. Open Space Reserve. 14pgs. Rochester, C., Pease, K., Hathaway, S., Brown, C., and R. Fisher. 2003. Herpetofaunal and Ant Inventory of Carmel Mountain and Del Mar Mesa Preserves of San Diego, California. USGS Technical Report. Prepared for the City of San Diego. Rochester, C., Hathaway, S., Brown, C., Pease, K., Fisher, R.N., 2001. Herpetofaunal Monitoring in MSCP Region of San Diego. Prepared for City of San Diego. 91pp.

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