Ant assemblages of a successional dune area (Tvärminne, south Finland) were analysed at three levels: the distribution of species among habitats, the distribution of colonies within habitats and the spatio‐temporal distribution of individuals. The distribution of ant species among habitat patches representing different stages of succession is correlated with the composition of the epigeic fauna, the number and condition of dead twigs on the ground and the vegetation architecture. The composition of ant assemblages seems relatively independent of the plant species composition, and there are uncoordinated successional steps between the vegetation and ant communities. In the early successional stages interference competition is weak and insignificant, as indicated by the random spatial arrangement of colonies, the absence of postcompetitive niche segregation and the low encounter rates of ant workers on the ground and at baits. In the aggressive behavioural hierarchy, Formica cinerea is a submissive species as compared with either Formica sanguinea or Lasius alienus.

Plesiobiosis, the most basic form of interspecific associations in ants, denotes occasional or regular nesting of heterospecific colonies of certain species pairs in close proximity to each other without biological interdependence. Plesiobionts differ from each other both in morphology and in behaviour (e.g., in their foraging strategies), and at least one of the plesiobiotic pair is a submissive species. Recent studies on plesiobiosis have revealed thatFormica fuscaandLasius flavusare two of the most frequent plesiobionts. To date, at least 48 different plesiobiotic species pairs have been recorded from various habitat types of the Holarctic region. Two main habitat properties may play a role in the forming of plesiobiosis: the scarcity of suitable nesting sites as a forcing factor and the sufficient amount of food sources available, influencing the abundance of colonies. Thus, high colony density may contribute to the formation of such associations, resulting in (1) frequent nesting in each other's neighbourhood and (2) stronger intraspecific competition, which forces colonies into the vicinity of heterospecific nests. Plesiobiotic associations formed this way may promote persistent coexistence, leading to the formation of other types of interspecific associations (e.g., clepto- or lestobiosis).

Climate change brings along trend-like changes as well as changes in the temporal variations in environmental conditions which interact with the biological dynamics of ecological systems. Therefore, only studies covering several decades may unveil long term trends in ecological systems, such as in animal communities. To demonstrate if recent climatic changes have caused fundamental changes in the structure of a key arthropod community, I studied the long-term dynamics of ant colonies for 37 years on a sandy grassland in central Hungary. To be able to monitor colonies -the natural units of ant communities -with the possible least disturbance, I applied two grids of a total of 80 slate plates as artificial nesting sites. Prior to the presented study, a well-defined spatial ant community structure had been identified in the studied habitat, which consisted of three species groups (dune top, transitional and dune slack groups), occupying different habitat patches. During the study period 2813 nests of 11 ant species were recorded under the slates. Over the 37 years, community pattern markedly changed, dune slack species disappeared from the studied plots, while the frequency of drought-tolerant dune top species increased by a significant trend. No significant trend was observed in the case of the transitional species group. On the species population level, two species, Lasius niger and Formica cunicularia, showed an intensive population decline; while the Plagiolepis taurica population significantly increased and spatially joined the transitional species group in the dune slack in the second half of the project. These changes led to a major decline in species richness and a homogenization of species composition across habitat patches. Multiple correlation analyses revealed that the depletion of groundwater had the strongest relationship with these population trends. The study indicates that climate change can be linked to a fundamental change in the community structure of major ecosystem actors.

No abstract

Ants (Hymenoptera: Forimicidae) are exceedingly common in nature. They constitute a conspicuous part of the terrestrial animal biomass and are also considered common ecosystem engineers. Due to their key role in natural habitats, they are at the basis of any nature conservation policy. Thus, the first step in developing adequate conservation and management policies is to build a precise faunistic inventory. More than 16,000 valid ant species are registered worldwide, of which 126 are known to occur in Hungary. Thanks to the last decade’s efforts in the Hungarian myrmecological research, and because of the constantly changing taxonomy of several problematic ant genera, a new checklist of the Hungarian ants is presented here. The state of the Hungarian myrmecofauna is also discussed in the context of other European countries’ ant fauna. Six species (Formica lemani, Lasius nitidigaster, Tetramorium immigrans, T. staerckei, T. indocile and Temnothorax turcicus) have been reported for the first time in the Hungarian literature, nine taxon names were changed after systematic replacements, nomenclatorial act, or as a result of splitting formerly considered continuous populations into more taxa. Two species formerly believed to occur in Hungary are now excluded from the updated list. All names are nomenclaturally assessed, and complete synonymies applied in the Hungarian literature for a certain taxon are provided. Wherever it is not self-evident, comments are added, especially to explain replacements of taxon names. Finally, we present a brief descriptive comparison of the Hungarian myrmecofauna with the ant fauna of the surrounding countries. The current dataset is a result of ongoing work on inventorying the Hungarian ant fauna, therefore it is expected to change over time and will be updated once the ongoing taxonomic projects are completed.

A hangyák (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) a fajszámuk, az egyedszámuk, a fejlett társas viselkedésük és az ökológiai hatásuk tekintetében egyaránt kiemelkedő jelentőségű rovarcsoport. Gyakoriságuk és társas szerveződésük okán a szakma és a laikus közönség tagjai gyakorta említik őket, akár nemzetség- vagy faji szinten. Ennek ellenére a hangyáknak a mai napig nem készült letisztult magyar névjegyzéke. A fajok, nemzetségek elnevezései gyakran esetlegesek voltak, még a hazánkban előforduló fajok jelentős része sem rendelkezett magyar névvel. Munkánk célja egy egységesen használható, korszerű, ugyanakkor a hagyományos neveket is a lehetőségekhez mérten – legalább valamely részletében – megtartó, szakmai és nyelvi szempontból egyaránt megfelelő névjegyzék elkészítése volt. A hazai hangyafajok tekintetében a jegyzékünk teljességre törekvő (126 faj). A külföldi fajok (238 faj) esetében tanulmányunk a magyar nyelvű tudományos és ismeretterjesztő közleményekben leginkább megjelenő, nevezetesebb, jellegzetesebb fajokat tartalmazza, továbbá a hobbihangyatartók által gyakrabban tartott fajok neveit is feltüntettük. Kitértünk néhány nevezetesebb fosszilis hangyafajra és -csoportra is (10 faj). A fajokon túl a magasabb rendszertani egységek – családsorozat (superfamilia), család (familia), alcsalád (subfamilia), tribusz (tribus), nemzetség (genus), és néhány helyen alnemzetség (subgenus) – esetében is tartalmazza az egyes csoportok tudományos neveit, és azok javasolt magyar megfelelőit. Munkánk során kísérletet tettünk minden hangyafaj és a hangyafélék családjába tartozó magasabb rendű rendszertani egység esetében a tudományos és az ismeretterjesztő közleményekben megjelent magyar szaknyelvi megnevezések minél teljesebb körű összegyűjtésére is, tanulmányunk egyúttal ezt a teljességre törekvő névgyűjteményt is tartalmazza.