ANT‐HILL VEGETATION IN ACIDIC GRASSLANDS IN THE GOWER PENINSULA, SOUTH WALES

Abstract

The vegetation of ant‐hill and adjacent pasture was compared in five acidic grasslands in the Gower peninsula, South Wales. The acrocarpous mosses Dicranum scoparium Hedw., Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw. and P. piliferum Hedw. were almost confined to the mounds but several perennials, including Anthoxanthum odoratum L., Luzula campestris (L.) DC, Potentilla erecta (L.) Rausch and Sieglingia decumbens (L.) Bernh., were much less abundant on ant‐hills than in the surrounding vegetation. The factors which influence the distributions of the plant species are discussed briefly. In considering the responses of plants to ant‐hills soil chemical and physical factors are probably less important than a plant's dispersal ability and capacity to withstand burial. Copyright © 1981, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved