Ant diversity and its role in different land use in Jambi

Conversion of tropical forests, mainly to agricultural area is the most important driver of tropical biodiversity loss. As dominant species in lowland forests, ant species diversity is prone to decline sharply due to forest transformation. This research was conducted to investigate the diversity of ants and its role in different land use. Ecological research was conducted in four types of land-use i.e. forest, jungle rubber, rubber and oil palm plantation, located within two landscapes i.e. Harapan and Bukit DuaBelas in Jambi, Indonesia. Each type of land use, four plots were selected for ant sampling. Ants were collected using baiting methods, combination between tuna and sugar. In total, 64 species of ants belong to 4 subfamilies and 20 genera were recorded from both area of Harapan and Bukit Duabelas. Surprisingly, the highest number of ant species was found in oil palm plantation. In addition, the compositions of ants based on its role differ among land-use types. It indicates that land-use change drive ant species composition.