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BIOINDICATORS

Any biota or living matter that are used to indicate the quality of the environment and its components

1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

3. SOCIETAL RELEVANCE

1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

3. SOCIETAL RELEVANCE

Exhibits changes in response to stressChanges can be measuredIntensity of changes relate to intensity of stressorsChanges are biologically important and occur early enough to prevent catastrophic effectsChange can be attributed to a causeChange indicates effects on both organisms themselves,

and on others higher on trophic scaleCan be used as sentinels for humans

1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Exhibits changes in response to stressChanges can be measuredIntensity of changes relate to intensity of stressorsChanges are biologically important and occur early enough to prevent catastrophic effectsChange can be attributed to a causeChange indicates effects on both organisms themselves,

and on others higher on trophic scaleCan be used as sentinels for humans

2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Easy to use in the field Can be used by nonspecialists Easy to analyze and interpret data Measures what it is supposed to measure Can be conducted in reasonable time Doesn’t require expensive or complicated equipment Easily repeatable with little training

consider the ants…

WHY ANTS?

They are extremely abundant

There is a relatively high species richness

There are many specialist species

They occupy higher trophic levels

They are easily sampled

They are usually easily identified

They are responsive to changing conditions

Species

Richness

DensityIndex

Shannon’s Diversity

Evenness

Mountford’s Similarity Indicator

SpeciesIndicator

Groups

ANT SPECIES RICHNESS AND EVENNESS INCREASE ALONG A METAL POLLUTION GRADIENT IN THE BOLESŁAW ZINC SMELTER AREA IRENA M.GRZES, 2009

This work examined the relationship between ant species diversity and heavy metal pollution at 16 meadow and forest sites along a metal contamination gradient in a mining and smelting region

Regardless of species composition differences between forest and meadow, the increase in species diversity with increasing metal pollution was very clear in both ecosystems. The more polluted the site, the more species were detected and the more similar in relative abundance they were.

Consequently, the extent to which one or a few species dominated a community decreased. This result can be explained by indirect effects of metal pollution, that is, changes in species interactions rather than by changes in abiotic conditions.

ANT RESEACH IN THE PHILIPPINES

Abundance of selected insect species in natural and agricultural habitats of a tropical island Gundula Szinicz, Konrad Martin, Joachim Sauerborn

A synoptic review of the ant genera (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the PhilippinesDavid M. General, Gary D. Alpert

Size Dependent Changes in Mandibular Shape of Diacamma rugosum (LeGuillou) 1842Muhmin Michael E. Manting*, Mark Anthony J. Torres and Cesar G. Demayo

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