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Data

Northern Australian Tropical Transect Ant Abundance Data 

Ver: 1.0
Status of Data: onGoing
Update Frequency: notPlanned
Security Classification: unclassified
Record Last Modified: 2025-12-02
Viewed 198 times
Accessed 36 times
Dataset Created: 2022-05-05
Dataset Published: 2022-05-13
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URLHTTPTERN EcoPlots PortalHTTPant_survey_CSIRO_North_Australian_Tropical_Transect_2012-2013_data_dictionaryHTTPant_survey_CSIRO_North_Australian_Tropical_Transect_1996-1997_data_dictionaryHTTPant_survey_CSIRO_North_Australian_Tropical_Transect_2012-2013_dataHTTPant_survey_CSIRO_North_Australian_Tropical_Transect_1996-1997_dataHTTPro-crate-metadata.json
How to cite this collection:
Andersen, A. (2022). Northern Australian Tropical Transect Ant Abundance Data. Version 1.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/72fc29ec-6cda-4454-8157-e83c4dda74a3 
This data contains ant abundance and incidence collected at two time points (1996 - 1997 and 2012 - 2013) along the Northern Australian Tropical Transect (NATT). 
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. This work was funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project. 
Purpose
Ants are Australia’s dominant faunal group in terms of biomass and energy flow. They occupy all trophic levels, act as ecosystem engineers, feature in many mutualistic interactions with plants, and are a key food resource for many vertebrates. Ants are also Australia’s best studied insect group in terms of biogeography and community dynamics. They are the most widely used invertebrate bio-indicators in environmental assessment and monitoring. 
Lineage
More detailed methodology can be found in the following papers for the 1996 - 1997 data (Andersen et al 2015) and 2012 - 2013 data (Del Toro et al 2019) 
Method DocumentationDel Toro, I., Ribbons, R.R., Hayward, J. and Andersen, A.N. (2019), Are stacked species distribution models accurate at predicting multiple levels of diversity along a rainfall gradient?. Austral Ecology, 44: 105-113.Andersen, A.N., Del Toro, I. and Parr, C.L. (2015), Savanna ant species richness is maintained along a bioclimatic gradient of increasing latitude and decreasing rainfall in northern Australia. J. Biogeogr., 42: 2313-2322.
Procedure Steps

1. 

Ant sampling 1996 - 1997 data: Ants were sampled at five locations along the NATT, ranging from Annaburro Station (approximately 1400 mm mean annual rainfall) in the north to the Kalkarindji region (650 mm) in the south, a distance of approximately 600 km. Within each of the five sites, three 1-ha plots were established, one each on sand, loam and clay soil. Ants were sampled using two 5 x 3 grids of pitfall traps located at opposite corners of each plot, with 10 m spacing between traps (total of 40 traps per plot). Traps were plastic containers 8.5 cm in diameter, partly filled with a 70% ethanol/glycol mixture as a preservative, and operated for a 48-h period on three occasions covering a range of seasonal conditions. Ant abundance and incidence was pooled at the plot level. 

2. 

Ant sampling 2012 - 2013 data: Ants were sampled at 15 sites along the NATT over a distance of approximately 800 km on two occasions, just before (October) and after (May) the 2012–2013 wet season. Ants were sampled along a 400 m linear transect ~100 m from the edge of the highway. At each site and during each sampling event, 40 pitfall traps (8.5 cm diameter) filled with ethylene glycol were buried flush with the ground and allowed to collect ground-foraging invertebrates for 5 days. 

3. 

Ant species identification: Ant specimens were identified and curated at the CSIRO's Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre in Darwin by Dr Alan Andersen. 

The Northern Australian Tropical Transect is a 1,000 km long transect that starts outside Darwin and stretches into the dry heart of the Northern Territory. It covers the tropical savanna ecosystems, and encompasses a variety of soil types The dominant vegetation throughout is eucalypt-dominated savanna woodland.
Temporal Coverage
From 1996-07-01 to on going 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Australian Faunal Directory
ARTHROPODA
FORMICIDAE
INSECTA
ANZSRC - FOR
Climate change impacts and adaptation
Ecology
Environmental management
GCMD Sciences
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION - ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION - ARTHROPODS
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION - INSECTS
BIOSPHERE - ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS
BIOSPHERE - ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS
Horizontal Resolution
Point Resolution
Instruments
wet pitfall trap
Parameters
animal count
animal occurrence
field species name
incidence of animals
scientific name
Temporal Resolution
Annual
Topic
biota
environment
User Defined
Ants
Invertebrate
NATT
Northern Australian Tropical Transect
Tropical savanna
Author
Andersen, Alan
Contact Point
Andersen, Alan
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
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