Any biota or living matter that are used to indicate the quality of the environment and its components

BIOINDICATORS

1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE
2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE 3. SOCIETAL RELEVANCE

Exhibits changes in response to stress Changes can be measured Intensity of changes relate to intensity of stressors Changes are biologically important and occur early 1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE enough to prevent catastrophic effects Change can be attributed to a cause 2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Change indicates effects on both organisms thems and on others higher on trophic scale 3. SOCIETAL RELEVANCE Can be used as sentinels for humans

Exhibits changes in response to stress Changes can be measured Intensity of changes relate to intensity of stressors Changes are biologically important and occur early enough to prevent catastrophic effects Change can be attributed to a cause Change indicates effects on both organisms thems and on others higher on trophic scale Can be used as sentinels for humans

1. BIOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Easy to use in the field Can be used by nonspecialists Easy to analyze and interpret data Measures what it is supposed to measure Can be conducted in reasonable time Doesnt require expensive or complicated equipme Easily repeatable with little training

2. METHODOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

consider the ants

They are extremely abundant There is a relatively high species richness There are many specialist species They occupy higher trophic levels They are easily sampled

They are usually easily identified

They are responsive to changing conditions

WHY ANTS?

Shannons Diversity Evenness Mountfords Similarity

Specie Inde s
Richness Density

Indicator Indicator Groups Species

ANT SPECIES RICHNESS AND EVENNESS INCREASE ALONG A METAL POLLUTION GRADIENT IN THE BOLESAW ZINC SMELTER AREA IRENA M.GRZES, 2009
This work examined the relationship between ant species diversity and heavy metal pollution at 16 meadow and forest sites along a metal contamination gradient in a mining and smelting region Regardless of species composition differences between forest and meadow, the increase in species diversity with increasing metal pollution was very clear in both ecosystems. The more polluted the site, the more species were detected and the more similar in relative abundance they were. Consequently, the extent to which one or a few species dominated a community decreased. This result can be explained by indirect effects of metal pollution, that is, changes in species interactions rather than by changes in

Abundance of selected insect species in natural and agricultural habitats of a tropical island Gundula Szinicz, Konrad Martin, Joachim Sauerborn

A synoptic review of the ant genera (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Philippines

David M. General, Gary D. Alpert

ANT RESEACH IN THE PHILIPPINES

Size Dependent Changes in Mandibular Shape of Diacamma rugosum (LeGuillou) 1842

Muhmin Michael E. Manting*, Mark Anthony J. Torres and Cesar G. Demayo

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