Ants are one of the most important faunal groups in Australia and are widely used as bioindicators in land monitoring and assessment programs. The Ants of Northern Australia will help in the identification of the 1500 or more ant species occurring in monsoonal Australia, an area which encompasses most of the northern third of the continent. Until now, no book has described the northern Australian ant fauna below genus level. Such a treatment is required to support and promote the numerous ecological studies involving ants, especially in the context of their use as bioindicators. The Ants of Northern Australia features original analyses of genera at the species-group level, and so has relevance throughout Australia. It treats all major species that have been described, as well as numerous others that remain undescribed.

Helps in the identification of the 1500 or more ant species occurring in monsoonal Australia.

Annotation. The only complete listing of the entire Australian ant genera.

Northern Australia is one of few tropical places left on Earth in which biodiversity—and the ecological processes underpinning that biodiversity—is still relatively intact. However, scientific knowledge of that biodiversity is still in its infancy and the region remains a frontier for biological discovery. The butterfly and diurnal moth assemblages of the area, and their intimate associations with vascular plants (and sometimes ants), exemplify these points. However, the opportunity to fill knowledge gaps is quickly closing: proposals for substantial development and exploitation of Australia’s north will inevitably repeat the ecological devastation that has occurred in temperate southern Australia—loss of species, loss of ecological communities, fragmentation of populations, disruption of healthy ecosystem function and so on—all of which will diminish the value of the natural heritage of the region before it is fully understood and appreciated. Written by several experts in the field, the main purpose of this atlas is to compile a comprehensive inventory of the butterflies and diurnal moths of northern Australia to form the scientific baseline against which the extent and direction of change can be assessed in the future. Such information will also assist in identifying the region’s biological assets, to inform policy and management agencies and to set priorities for biodiversity conservation.

Early research on ant-plant interactions in Australia was largely confined to the economically important problem of ants harvesting surface-sown pasture seed (e. g. Campbell 1966). The report by Berg (1975) of widespread myrmecochory in Australia, and a burst of overseas research, stimulated research on a range of ant-plant interactions in Australia. This book summarizes such research and presents reeent and current work on seed harvesting, myrmecochory, ant-epiphytes, extrafloral nectaries, ant-plant-homopteran systems, and the influence of vegetation on ant faunas. I hope that it will encourage further work in these and related areas, and that the review and bibliography of ant-plant interactions in the rest ofthe world will serve as a useful source for those entering the field. The richness of Australia's flora and ant fauna render it a particularly interesting continent for the study of interactions between them. As immediately apparent from the list of contents, ant-seed interactions are particularly significant in Australia. This is not surprising for a relatively dry continent bearing a largely sc1erophyllous plant cover. Future research, however, especially in the tropical north, is like1y to reveal further types of interaction, perhaps corresponding to those characteristic of the tropics elsewhere, or perhaps distinctively Australian. Some of the chapters have been shortened and modified considerably from the original manuscripts, but the ideas and results presented are, of course, those of the individual authors.

Rangeland ecosystems which include unimproved grasslands,shrublands, savannas and semi-deserts, support half of theworld’s livestock, while also providing habitats for some ofthe most charismatic of wildlife species. This book examines thepressures on rangeland ecosystems worldwide from human land use,over-hunting, and subsistence and commercial farming of livestockand crops. Leading experts have pooled their experiences from allcontinents to cover the ecological, sociological, political,veterinary, and economic aspects of rangeland management today. This book provides practitioners and students ofrangeland management and wildland conservation with a diversity ofperspectives on a central question: can rangelands be wildlands? The first book to examine rangelands from a conservationperspective Emphasizes the balance between the needs of people andlivestock, and wildlife Written by an international team of experts covering allgeographical regions Examines ecological, sociological, political, veterinary, andeconomic aspects of rangeland management and wildland conservation,providing a diversity of perspectives not seen before in a singlevolume

The incredible global diversity of ants, and their important ecological roles, mean that we cannot ignore the significance of ants in ecological systems. Ant Ecology takes the reader on a journey of discovery from the beginnings of ants many hundreds of thousands of years ago, through to the makings of present day distributions.