Diversity and Community Composition of Ants in the Mixed Deciduous Forest, the Pine Forest and the Para Rubber Plantation at Chulaborn Dam, Chaiyaphum Province, the Northeastern Thailand

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The species diversity of ants in three different land use types: a mixed deciduous forest, pine forest and Para rubber plantation, were studied to determine and compare the ant species diversity in these areas. Four sampling methods: handling capture over constant time, honey bait trap, leaf litter sifting and soil sifting, were conducted from September 2011 to September 2012, inclusive. The species richness of ants in the area was 40 identified species, belonging to 23 genera in five subfamilies. The Shannon-Wiener’s species diversity index indicated that the diversity was the highest in the mixed deciduous forest (2.65), followed by the pine forest (2.19) and lastly the Para rubber plantation (1.48). The β-diversity, using Sorensen’s similarity coefficient to determine the similarity in community composition, was highest between the mixed deciduous forest and the Pine Forest at 71%, and then between the mixed deciduous forest and Para rubber plantation at 61%, and between the pine forest and the Para rubber plantation at 53%, indicating that both ant species diversity and community composition were varied in these three sites which may relate to their different land use types. Therefore, the information from this study suggests that ant species diversity may be used to assist the conservation and management planning of agro-forestry ecosystems.