ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF ANTS

Abstract

The renewed interest in island biogeography during the last decade has stemmed in part from the fact that islands represent biological microcosms where ecological and evolutionary phenomena can be observed more readily than on continents. Along with the new focus on species-area relations provided by MacArthur and Wilson (1963, 1967) and Hamilton and Rubinoff (1963) came the idea that ecological mechanisms basic to all communities could best be elucidated in the simple communities present on islands. This study was undertaken as part of a general analysis of niche segregation and habitat utilization in a north temperate zone ant community. It was found that the factors important to niche segregation and community structure were also the controlling factors in the species-area relationship. This report will describe how the geographical distribution of a physical parameter (temperature), of demonstrated physiological significance to the taxon studied, can be used to predict the number of species that an area of land will contain.