In cooperation with Cleveland State University
Ants are important predators of other insects, and they play important roles in seed dispersal and breakdown of organic matter.
Through a series of sample sites set up in Huntington, Garfield Park, Bradley Woods, South Chagrin, North Chagrin, Hinckley, Bedford and Brecksville reservations, scientists from Cleveland State areas evaluating the impacts of forest fragmentation on leaf-litter ant communities. The goal is to determine whether smaller forest patches have fewer ant species than larger ones and to document ant species occurring in NE Ohio. Preliminary analysis shows that species richness differs little among the sites with intermediate sized reservations having lower species numbers than either large or small reservations. Moreover, previously undocumented ant species have been found during the surveys.
Fragment size alone is apparently not a good indicator of ant species numbers and other factors may play prominent roles.