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Spatial distribution of red wood ants and scientific basis of their protection

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Abstract

The results of long-term research on spatial distribution of red wood ants in the Urals and Western Siberia are presented. It was shown that large complexes counting tens and hundreds of nests clearly tended to form aggregations, or zones of high density. These zones are extended latitudinally and arranged in a striate pattern, with stripes about 15 km wide, about 100 km long, and positioned 100–120 km apart. The possibility of using these trends for the protection of red wood ants and for future research is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, 620144, Russia

    A. V. Gilev

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  1. A. V. Gilev
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Correspondence to A. V. Gilev.

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Original Russian Text © A.V. Gilev, 2010, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2010, Vol. 89, No. 12, pp. 1413–1420.

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Gilev, A.V. Spatial distribution of red wood ants and scientific basis of their protection. Entmol. Rev. 91, 133–140 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873811020023

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