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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(3)

The ant fauna of Timor and neighbouring islands: potential bridges between the disjunct faunas of South East Asia and Australia

Colin R. Trainor A C and Alan N. Andersen B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT 0800, Australia.

B CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Tropical Ecosystems Research Centre, PMB 44, Winnellie, NT 0822, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: colin.trainor@cdu.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 58(3) 133-144 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO09113
Submitted: 10 November 2009  Accepted: 25 June 2010   Published: 25 August 2010

Abstract

This study examines the biogeography of the ant fauna of Timor and of stepping stone Nusa Tenggara islands to the north (Wetar, Atauro, Alor, Pantar and Lembata) that are geographically closer to continental South East Asia. Timor is of outstanding biogeographical significance because it is the second largest island within the Wallacean transitional zone between the closely approximated but geologically distinct Indo-Australasian and South East Asian continental plates. It represents a potential overlap zone between the otherwise disjunct ant faunas of Australia and South East Asia. A total of 154 ant species from 32 genera and six subfamilies were collected through a combination of systematic sampling in evergreen forest, dry forest, savanna and grassland at 23 locations in the Lautem district of Timor-Leste, and opportunistic collections at 29 sites elsewhere on Timor and on the neighbouring islands. The most species-rich genera were Camponotus and Polyrhachis (both 28 species), Tetramorium (14 species), Diacamma and Paratrechina (both 8 species). On Timor, 111 ant species were recorded, including 64 species in the Lautem district. The Timor ant fauna is dominated by taxa of South East Asian origin (76% of native species), and has only weak Australian affinities (18%). The latter figure is even smaller (14%) for the neighbouring islands, reflecting their closer proximity to South East Asia. In contrast to Australia, there was no clear disjunction between the ant faunas of contrasting tropical forest and savanna habitats sampled in Lautem district. This can be explained by the Timor ant fauna being dominated by South East Asian tropical forest taxa, with Australian savanna woodland taxa being poorly represented.


Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Postgraduate Research Scholarship to CRT from Charles Darwin University, with additional financial support from the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Savannas at Charles Darwin University, and from the UK Parrot Society; and through BirdLife, the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, and from Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife Netherlands). The project was supervised by Richard Noske and John Woinarski. Work in Timor-Leste would have been impossible without the assistance and approval of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, in particular the Department of National Parks and Protected Areas, in the National Directorate of Forestry: Manuel da Silva, Manuel Mendes and Cathy Molnar (Protected Area Network Advisor); also the National Directorate for Environmental Services and the Lautem District Administration. Fieldwork and local logistical support was provided by many people, particularly Alcantra F. Xavier, João dos Santos, Lourenço dos Santos and Almeida F. Xavier. Work on Wetar was supported by Columbidae Conservation. Thanks to Tony Hertog and Wendy Welsh for laboratory assistance, and to Jane Edwards for preparing spatial variables and habitat mapping, and for preparing Fig. 1.


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