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1Centre
for Ecological Research PAS (formerly Institute of Ecology PAS), Dziekanów Leśny (near Warsaw),
05-092 Łomianki, Poland, e-mail: jpetal@wp.pl
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Abstract: The
paper focuses on the role of ants as soil engineers in three drained fens. Physical, chemical and biotic
soil conditions and effects of ants on soil conditions were compared between fens differing in peat
origin. Multivariate statistical methods were applied (PCA, RDA). Relationships
between soil moisture, indices of soil biological activity, and the amount of nutrients released were
better expressed in the anthill soil than in the adjacent soil. A lower bulk density of the anthill soil,
thus, a higher soil porosity, enhanced the leaching of
water- extractable, mobile metallic cations and nitric ions. The composition of humus fraction was
strongly dependent on soil chemical properties. In both the anthill soil and the adjacent soil, the
content of humic acids was positively related with bulk density, whereas the content of humins was
related with moisture. In adjacent soil, cation exchange capacity (CEC) was positively related with the
content of humic acids and with bulk density. This relationship was not so clear in the anthill soil. The
direction of changes in these relationships in the anthill soil was influenced by ant societies. The
number of individuals in society determined the nest structure
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words: anthills, humus fractions, soil biological activity. |
