• Sean Menke
• Lake Forest College
• Biology

• Students
• Elise Grossman
• Olivia Parrott
• Benjamin Wyatt
• Elisabeth Bacon
• Cortney Oates
• Schuyler Kogan
• Michael Penn
• Amanda Gibbs
• Alexis Rosanova
• Jeremy Boeing
• Gabriel Trujillo
• Nicole Vachter
• Jenifer Yost
• Kaya Cuper
• Emilee Gaulke
• Allison Hamel
• Natalia Wilkins
• Joshua Davendonis

Alexis R. Rosanova

Lake Forest Richter Scholar 2013

Title: The effect of soil moisture on ant species richness in sedge meadows

Abstract: Ant communities are capable of thriving in areas that are known to have fluctuating environments. Relatively little research has been done on ants in sedge meadows. Sedge meadows routinely go through periods of flooding and draining, changing the habitat complexity and the stubstrate avialable for ants. This past summer, my lab and I researched ant community composition in a variety of sedge meadows. More specifically, I personally studied how soil moisture is correlated with ant species richness. Furthermore, I looked at how soil moisture gradient affects the distribution of different nesting specialists. The conclusion of my research suggests that there is not an overarching correlation between soil moisture and ant species richness; however, there does seem to be a positive correlation between increasing soil moisture and twig nesting specialist. Additionally, there is a variable effect on soil moisture on mound and soil nesters. These results suggest a combination of habitat characteristics govern the presence and preferences of ant species.