The Effects of Ants on Grasslands

Abstract

Four recent books on grassland ecosystems make no mention of ants, while a fifth contains several entries in the index, most of which bear no relation to the text (Spedding 1971; Heal and Perkins 1978; Innis 1978; French 1979; Huntley and Walker 1982). This suggests that ants arc of little significance in grasslands; however, the evidence presented here shows that ants can have a major impact upon grassland vegetation.