Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

COLLATION OF ANT COMMUNITIES IN TEA PLANTATIONS AND CABBAGE PLANTATION SURROUNDING TELAGA WARNA NATURE RESERVE, BOGOR

Meiry Fadilah Noor, M. Ridwan and Narti Fitriana

Abstract

Telaga Warna as nature reserve is surrounded by crop plantation as a buffer zone. Tea plantation is regularly pruned three times and cabbage is harvested anytime. The management, a type of plantation, and micro climate may affectant communities. The objective of this research is to study ant communities on tea plantation and cabbage plantation surrounding the Telaga Warna nature conservation. Sampling uses the pitfall traps, bait traps and hands collecting on each plot, which three plot in both plantation. A total 4768 ants present 18 species on three sub family (Formicinae, Myrmicinae and Ponerinae). In both habitat four species invasive were discovered (Polyrachis sp, Pheidole, Pheidolo geton sp, and Tetramorium paciparum), except Anoplolepis sp in cabbage plantation and Nylanderia sp in tea plantation. The evenness index shows that both habitats have labile environment (0.4 and 0.517). Unstable environment is characterized by the presence of six invasive ants. Analyses by Shannon index show that cabbage plantation has higher diversity than tea plantation but similarity of species is low (43.5%). Almost all species are distributed in clump; it indicates that the environment has enough food resources. The conical correspondence analysis (CCA) shows that soil temperate on cabbage plantation is provide for Myrmicaria sp as a forager ant, and light intensity on tea plantation provide for Nylanderia sp as forager invasive cosmopolite ant and Crematogaster baduvi as forager ant.