Habitat wise distribution of ants with special reference to their host plants in Kholahat Reserve Forest, Assam, India

Abstract

Ants play a major role in the terrestrial ecosystem by conducting many key ecological functions. The present study was undertaken to investigate the habitatwise distribution of ants in Kholahat Reserve Forest, Assam. The ants were collected from forest habitat, grassland habitat and human habitat from September 2017 to August 2020. A total of 30 ant species belonging to 22 genera and 6 Subfamilies were recorded. The Shannon diversity indices indicated that the diversity was highest in forest habitat (3.32), followed by grassland habitat (3.29) and lowest in human habitat (3.04). The Sorenson’s similarity index was highest between forest and grassland habitat while lowest between forest and human habitat. Six ant species were observed in teak and sal trees, while nine ant species were observed exclusively foraging on the soil during the daytime.