Sains Malaysiana 48(7)(2019): 1311–1323

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2019-4807-01

 

Corak Taburan Ruang-Masa Semut (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) di Ekosistem Sawit, Endau Rompin, Pahang

(Spatio-Temporal Pattern of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Endau Rompin Oil Palm Ecosystem, Pahang)

 

WAN ZAKHIR WAN NAZRI¹, DZULHELMI MUHAMMAD NASIR², NUR-ATHIRAH ABDULLAH¹, FARAH NADIAH ROSLI¹, BAKHTIAR EFFENDI YAHYA³ & FASZLY RAHIM⁴*

 

¹Pusat Sistematik Serangga, Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

 

²Unit Entomologi dan Mikrobiologi Gunaan, Bahagian Penyelidikan Biologi, Lembaga Minyak Sawit Malaysia, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

 

³Institut Biologi Tropika dan Pemuliharaan, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

 

⁴Kolej PERMATA Insan, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, 71800 Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

 

Received: 13 September 2018/Accepted: 26 April 2019

 

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengetahui corak taburan ruang-masa semut (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) dan memahami ekologi ruang semut di ekosistem sawit di Endau Rompin, Pahang. Persampelan dijalankan selama empat bulan berturut-turut di tiga jenis tanah iaitu tanah liat (A1 & A2), tanah gambut dalam (B1 & B2) dan tanah gambut cetek (C1 & C2). Kaedah perangkap lubang digunakan bagi mensampel semut yang mencari makanan di atas tanah. Sejumlah 3,968 individu semut berjaya diperoleh, mewakili 13 genus dalam empat subfamili. Anoplolepis mencatatkan bilangan individu paling melimpah iaitu sebanyak 1,692 individu (45.75%) diikuti dengan Pheidole (862 individu; 23.31%) dan Paratrechina (228 individu; 6.17%). Dalam tanah liat, Anoplolepis ialah genus yang paling melimpah manakala bagi tanah gambut dalam dan cetek, Pheidole adalah genus yang paling melimpah berbanding genus yang lain. Ujian Khi kuasa-dua (dua hala) mengenal pasti perbezaan yang signifikan (p < 0.05) bagi komposisi lapan genus iaitu Anoplolepis, Oecophylla, Paratrechina, Odontomachus, Ponera, Crematogaster, Pheidole, dan Tetramorium dalam kombinasi tanah, bulan dan genus. Bagi corak taburan ruang-masa pula, Formicinae secara keseluruhannya menunjukkan corak taburan ruang yang berkelompok (Ia > 1; p < 0.05) manakala bagi Ponerinae, Myrmicinae dan Aenictinae, corak taburan ruang-masa adalah berbentuk rawak (Ia ≤ 1; p > 0.05). Corak taburan ruang-masa setempat bagi subfamili semut adalah sangat dinamik dengan perubahan corak kelompok dan luang yang berbeza pada bulan yang berlainan. Gambaran awal corak taburan ruang-masa setempat bagi semut di ekosistem sawit yang diperoleh dalam kajian ini menunjukkan hubung kait ekologi dan lakuan beberapa genus walau pun secara kolektifnya dicerap pada peringkat subfamili. Kajian lanjut bagi melihat asosiasi ruang-masa antara subfamili dirasakan perlu bagi memperjelaskan lagi ekologi lakuan dan interaksi dalam kalangan komuniti berfungsi semut.

 

Kata kunci: Corak ruang-masa; ekosistem sawit; Formicidae; pencari makan atas tanah

 

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to determine the spatio-temporal pattern of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in order to understand the ecology of ants in palm oil ecosystem at Endau Rompin, Pahang. Sampling was carried out for four consecutive months on three types of soils, i.e. clay (plots A1 & A2), deep peat (plots B1 & B2) and shallow peat (plots C1 & C2). Pitfall trapping was used as it is suitable for ants that forages on the ground. A total of 3,968 individuals were captured consisting of 13 genera in four subfamilies. Anoplolepis was the most abundant with 1,692 individuals (45.75%) followed by Pheidole (862 individuals; 23:31%) and Paratrechina (228 individuals; 6.17%). In clay, Anoplolepis is the most abundant meanwhile in deep and shallow peat, Pheidole have the highest number of individuals compared to other genera. Two-way Chi-squared analysis identified that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the compositions amongst the eight genera (Anoplolepis, Oecophylla, Paratrechina, Odontomachus, Ponera, Crematogaster, Pheidole, and Tetramorium) with soil, months and genus combined. As for the spatio-temporal distribution pattern, Formicinae showed in overall clustered patterns (Ia > 1; p < 0.05) while Ponerinae, Myrmicinae and Aenictinae showed a randomised distribution pattern (Ia ≤ 1; p > 0.05). Local spatio-temporal pattern for the subfamilies was dynamic with patchy patterns and gaps varied across months. The spatio-temporal pattern amongst ants observed in this study showed a strong relationship between the ecology and the behaviour of some ant genera despite observation was done at the subfamily level. Further study to identify the spatio-temporal associations amongst subfamilies is needed to elucidate behavioural ecology of ants and interactions within the diferrent functional groups.

 

Keywords: Above-ground foragers; Formicidae; oil palm ecosystems; spatio-temporal distribution

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*Corresponding author; email: faszly@usim.edu.my