الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Ground invertebrate fauna is an important group to maintain soil health. The Suez Canal region has a unique status in Egypt. Population in the Canal region and green areas have increased widely, as a result new habitats have attracted some taxa from the Nile valley. This study is an attempt to investigate the distribution pattern of ground-macro invertebrates in correlation with land-use along the left bank of Suez Canal in a considerable region. It also demonstrates the results of previous surveys of formicid species in Egypt over years. The faunal samples were collected using pitfall traps in nine sites belonging to three stations; Abusultan, Fanara and Geneifa, with different land use practices (natural, agricultural and urbanized). A number of 3502 arthropod individuals belong to 129 species were found. The highest species richness was shown by Coleopterans, while the most abundant group was Hymenoptera. It was found that urbanization and agricultural practices have altered soil properties, thus they adversely affected the abundance of ground invertebrate assemblage. Distribution maps were produced for the twelve discovered ant species in the study area allover Egypt. One formicid species was found as a first record in Egypt, while four others are new records for the left bank of the Suez Canal region. |