Harvard Forest >

Summer Research Project 2019

• Title: The Ants of the Harvard Forest
• Group Project Leader: Aaron Ellison
• Mentors: Aaron Ellison
• Collaborators: Aaron Ellison
• Project Description:

  Nearly 20 years of sampling of ants at Harvard Forest (HF) has generated a large database on local biodiversity, uncovered new records for HF and Worcester County, and identified range extensions of species responding to climatic warming. The goal of this summer's project on ant diversity at HF is to synthesize existing data on the ants of the HF, harmonize all known records into a single database, identify and sample previously unsampled or undersampled areas and habitats at HF, and create a set of specimen vouchers for accessing at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ).
  
  The two students working on this project will first review existing ant diversity data and specimens available at HF. They will use R and/or GIS software to overlay distribution maps of HF ants onto maps of HF parcels, forest compartments, and vegetation types. This review and mapping will be used to target areas for additional sampling, and students will then sample those areas using hand-collecting, pitfall traps, baits, and litter sifters. Additional records will be added to the database and mapped.
  
  Students will learn ant identification and field-sampling methods, and use R and GIS to explore relationships between ants and the variety of habitats at HF. Students can expect to spend the first three weeks exploring existing data and planning field sampling; the subsequent five weeks collecting ants in the field collecting ants and the lab identifying them, and the final three weeks doing data analysis and preparing voucher sets. Field work will involve extensive hiking - often off trail - and collecting ants. Lab work will involve using dissecting microscopes to identify ants and working with hazardous chemicals (95% ethanol); mandatory training in handling hazardous chemicals will be provided.
  
  There will be opportunities for the student to develop an independent project focused on biodiversity that can be extended into a year-long independent project or senior thesis work.
  
  The students selected for this project will be mentored by Aaron Ellison.
  
  Desired Skills: The students working on this project must:
  1. Be willing to participate actively in field activities;
  2. Be able to hike with 45-lb backpack in forested terrain;
  3. Be willing to clean, set, and collect pitfall traps;
  4. Be willing to handle live ants and sort dead ants preserved in alcohol;
  5. Spend many hours identifying ants under a microscope;
  6. Be able to wear hard hats while working in the field;
  7. Be able to spend many hours in the lab analyzing data;
  8. Have, or be willing to develop, a basic understanding of R and GIS for graphical and statistical analysis.
  
  

• Readings:

  Lyford, W. H. 1963. Importance of ants to brown podzolic soil genesis in New England. Harvard Forest Paper 7.
  
  Ellison, A. M., S. Record, A. Arguello, and N. J. Gotelli. 2007. Rapid inventory of the ant assemblage in a temperate hardwood forest: species composition and sampling methods. Environmental Entomology 36: 766-775.
  
  Kaspari, M., C. Chang, and J. Weaver. 2010. Salted roads and sodium limitation in a northern forest ant community. Ecological Entomology 35: 543-548.
  
  Ellison, A. M., N, J. Gotelli, G. Alpert, and E. J. Farnsworth. 2012. A Field Guide to the Ants of New England. Yale University Press.
  

• Research Category: Biodiversity Studies