Description
This study was carried out at three study sites in the forests of the southern part of Djurdjura National Park. We found a high variety of ants, with 2651 individuals belonging to 25 species and three subfamilies, Dolichoderinae, Myrmicinae and Formicinae. Sampling methods used were pitfall traps and hand collection. The dominant subfamily was Formicinae, representing 48% of individuals collected. Seven species belonged to this subfamily, 31% of which were Camponotus cruentatus. The second most common species found (18%) was Tapinoma magnum, an invasive species in many countries. Relative abundance, frequency of occurrence, and diversity varied across the three study sites. Site 1, a black pine forest, had higher species richness (20 species) than site 2, a cedar strip (15 species), and site 3, a mixed holm oak forest (16 species). Our study area has a diverse fauna of ants and distribution of their populations is wide.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 75 records.
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How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Labbaci, A., Marniche, F., Daoudi-Hacini, S., Boulay, R., Milla, A., 2019. Species diversity of Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on the southern slope of Djurdjura National Park (Northern Algeria). Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. Dataset/Occcurrence: https://doi.org/10.15470/htbs0q
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The publisher and rights holder of this work is Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: d95bd926-a74a-498e-9f81-8ee7e1f56b0c. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Spain.
Keywords
Formicidae; Algeria; Djurdjura National Park; Occurrence; Occurrence
Contacts
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Geographic Coverage
The National Park of Djurdjura is located in the northern-central part of Algeria (36° 27′ 47″ N, 4° 10′ 41″ E), covering an area of 185 km2 (Mouslim and Nouel-Kheiter, 2017). The altitude of the Djurdjura chain averages 2,000 meters and has all the typical characteristics of high mountains.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [36.4, 4.1], North East [36.7, 4.21] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Order | Hymenoptera |
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| Family | Formicidae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2016-03-23 / 2017-07-28 |
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Project Data
Algeria is a forest-oriented country (Cagniant, 1968). Since the 1970s, Algeria has paid particular attention to natural environments by classifying these ecosystems as protected areas. The Algerian government has created ten national parks, eight of which are located in the north of the country and have a total area of 165,362 ha. One of these parks, the Djurdjura National Park, covers 18,550 ha (11.19%) (D.G.F., 2013) and contains a rich diversity of wildlife with 145 animal species (Mouslim and Nouel-Kheiter, 2017). Ants are abundant in most terrestrial ecosystems. They are found most anywhere, in forests and in the open, at the water's edge and in dry places, underground, and on rocks (Cagniant, 1973). The most recent classification of Formicidae (Bolton, 2003) consists of 21 sub-families worldwide. In Algeria, six sub-families have been reported: Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Dolichoderinae, Ponerinae, Dorylinae, and Proceratiinae (Cagniant, 1968, 1970a; Dehina et al., 2013). Several authors have studied myrmecofauna in Algeria: Cagniant (1966, 1968, 1969, 1970a, 1970b, 1973), Dehina et al. (2013), Bouzekri et al. (2014), Djioua and Sadoudi-Ali Ahmed (2015), Barrech et al. (2016) and Chemala et al. (2017). As few studies have been carried out to date in forests areas in Algeria we conducted the present study in the southern part of the Djurdjura National Park to classify Formicidae across three sites that differ in the types of trees therein. The only study conducted previously in this region was that by Cagniant, between 1963 and 1966. However, the area has since undergone changes and disturbances due to anthropization. The objective of this study was to update and complete the list of myrmecological diversity in the southern part of Djurdjura National Park (Northern Algeria).
| Title | Species diversity of Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on the southern slope of Djurdjura National Park (Northern Algeria) |
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| Study Area Description | The Park is divided into four sectors. Three are located on the northern slope. Our work was conducted in the fourth sector, located in the southern part and known for the Tikjda mountain pass. This region has a humid, cool bio-climate characterized by four months of drought (June to September) and an estimated average rainfall of 1,258 mm/year. The monthly temperatures range from 18 °C to 23.4 °C (Derridj, 1990; Asmani, 1993). The snowfall period may last up to four months in the best years (Derridj, 1990). Being on the southern side of Djurdjura, this sector is directly influenced by hot winds (sirocco). Three sites were chosen according to their landscape type. Site 1 is located in the Tigounatine region (fig. 1) at an altitude of 1,480 m and it has a southern exposure (36° 27' 10.55″ N 4° 06' 22.37″ E). It is covered by black pine forest with a diversified floral assemblage (Ilex aquifolium L., 1753, Daphne laureola L., 1753, Berberis vulgaris L., 1753, Rosa canina L., 1753, Anthylis montana L. 1753, Juniperus communis L., 1753). Site 2 is located in the Taghzarth region at an altitude of 1,510 m with a north-west exposure (36° 27' 31.66″ N 4° 06' 38.86″E) (fig. 2). It is rocky with considerable floral diversity, including Genista spp. L., 1753, Crataegus monogyna L., 1753, Astragalus spp. L., 1753, and Juniperus communis L., 1753.The site sampled was situated on the edge of a cedar forest. Site 3 is located in the Tawyalt region at an altitude of 1,490 m with a northeastern exposure (36° 26' 28.40″ N 4° 06' 57.16″ E) (fig. 3). It is a mixed holm oak forest Quercus ilex L., 1753 with cedar, Cedrus atlantica Carrière, 1855, Cytisus scoparius L., 1822, and Sambucus nigra L., 1753, Acer campestre L., 1753, Ilex aquifolium L., 1753, Juniperus oxycedrus L., 1753. This site has suffered from fires on several occasions. |
| Design Description | The study was conducted during spring and summer in March 2016 and July 2017, in accordance with the recommendations of Cagniant (1973) and Barech et al. (2016). Ants were sampled using two methods, visual detection and direct hand collection (Romero and Jaffe, 1989), and the Barber pots method (Campos et al., 2011). Hand collection was performed when the pots were placed; two researchers actively searched for ants in the vegetation and under stones and rocks for 60 minutes. The ants were then preserved in 70° ethanol. |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Author
Sampling Methods
The study was conducted during spring and summer in March 2016 and July 2017, in accordance with the recommendations of Cagniant (1973) and Barech et al. (2016).
| Study Extent | The National Park of Djurdjura is located in the northern-central part of Algeria (36° 27′ 47″ N, 4° 10′ 41″ E), covering an area of 185 km2 (Mouslim and Nouel-Kheiter, 2017). The altitude of the Djurdjura chain averages 2,000 meters and has all the typical characteristics of high mountains. The Park is divided into four sectors. Three are located on the northern slope. Our work was conducted in the fourth sector, located in the southern part and known for the Tikjda mountain pass. This region has a humid, cool bio-climate characterized by four months of drought (June to September) and an estimated average rainfall of 1,258 mm/year. The monthly temperatures range from 18 °C to 23.4 °C (Derridj, 1990; Asmani, 1993). The snowfall period may last up to four months in the best years (Derridj, 1990). Being on the southern side of Djurdjura, this sector is directly influenced by hot winds (sirocco). Three sites were chosen according to their landscape type. Site 1 is located in the Tigounatine region (fig. 1) at an altitude of 1,480 m and it has a southern exposure (36° 27' 10.55″ N 4° 06' 22.37″ E). It is covered by black pine forest with a diversified floral assemblage (Ilex aquifolium L., 1753, Daphne laureola L., 1753, Berberis vulgaris L., 1753, Rosa canina L., 1753, Anthylis montana L. 1753, Juniperus communis L., 1753). Site 2 is located in the Taghzarth region at an altitude of 1,510 m with a north-west exposure (36° 27' 31.66″ N 4° 06' 38.86″E) (fig. 2). It is rocky with considerable floral diversity, including Genista spp. L., 1753, Crataegus monogyna L., 1753, Astragalus spp. L., 1753, and Juniperus communis L., 1753.The site sampled was situated on the edge of a cedar forest. Site 3 is located in the Tawyalt region at an altitude of 1,490 m with a northeastern exposure (36° 26' 28.40″ N 4° 06' 57.16″ E) (fig. 3). It is a mixed holm oak forest Quercus ilex L., 1753 with cedar, Cedrus atlantica Carrière, 1855, Cytisus scoparius L., 1822, and Sambucus nigra L., 1753, Acer campestre L., 1753, Ilex aquifolium L., 1753, Juniperus oxycedrus L., 1753. This site has suffered from fires on several occasions. |
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| Quality Control | The Barber pots consisted of metallic containers (7.4 cm diameter × 10.5 cm long), placed at ground level. They were filled to one-third with a solution of water and a drop of liquid dishwashing soap to break the surface tension. For each study site, we selected a 100 meter transect and positioned a pitfall trap every 5 m (20 traps). The pitfall traps were left in place for 48 hours. Their contents were then collected using a strainer and placed in Petri dishes where the date and place of collection were recorded. Ants were identified based on the determination keys found in AntWeb and AntCat. Concerning the identification of Tapinoma genus, species level was determined by Pr. Seifert Bernhard, Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz, Am Museum 1, 02826 Görlitz, Germany. The samples are deposited in the Collection Insectarium at the National High School of Agricultural Sciences, Algiers, Algeria. |
Method step description:
- Ants were sampled using two methods, visual detection and direct hand collection (Romero and Jaffe, 1989), and the Barber pots method (Campos et al., 2011). Hand collection was performed when the pots were placed; two researchers actively searched for ants in the vegetation and under stones and rocks for 60 minutes. The ants were then preserved in 70° ethanol.
Collection Data
| Collection Name | Collection Insectarium at the National High School of Agricultural Sciences, Algiers, Algeria |
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Bibliographic Citations
- Labbaci, A., Marniche, F., Daoudi-Hacini, S., Boulay, R., Milla, A., 2019. Species diversity of Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) on the southern slope of Djurdjura National Park (Northern Algeria). Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 17: 219-229, Doi: https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2019.17.0219 https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2019.17.0219
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 10.15470/htbs0q |
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| d95bd926-a74a-498e-9f81-8ee7e1f56b0c | |
| https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=myrmecofauna_algeria |