Ant Distribution and Abundance in New England 1990-2014

The Ants of New England project is a multi-investigator, multi-year effort to document the occurrence, distribution, and relative abundance of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the six New England states (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine). The project was initiated in 1999 as a more narrowly-focused effort aimed at determining ant species diversity in bogs and surrounding forests in Massachusetts and Vermont using standard methods (pitfall trapping, timed baiting, litter collection, and visual searching; Gotelli and Ellison 2002, Ellison et al. 2002). Subsequent detailed analysis of collection methods revealed that reliable estimates of ant species occurrences, distribution, and abundance in this geographic region could be obtained using only visual searching and litter collection (Ellison et al. 2007). Following this analysis, we carried out an initial survey of ant occurrences, distribution, and abundances in Massachusetts in 2007. The 2007 survey was focused on ants living in natural community types as defined by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (Swain and Kearsley 2001) and located in properties of high conservation and education value owned by Massachusetts Audubon Society and The Trustees of Reservations. The primary goals for the 2007 survey were: (1) To describe and quantify patterns of distribution and abundance of ants across Massachusetts and to determine the regional "species pool" of ants that could ground local studies on ants (for example, the Warm Ants project at Harvard Forest). (2) To provide a baseline from which to assess long-term effects of climate change on species distributions. (3) To develop a set of indicator species to be used to determine efficacy of ongoing and proposed management strategies and to reveal effects of future disturbances and habitat degradation. (4) To compare with ongoing or planned quantitative surveys of birds and plants at sites owned by conservation partners (e.g., MAS, TTOR, NCF). (5) To lay the groundwork and develop capacity within partnering organizations for future sampling of additional sites and of the same sites in future years. As the Ant of Massachusetts project became more widely known, additional specimens were contributed by individuals working throughout the region. A longitudinal series (2004 - present) of collections of ants from pitfall traps on Nantucket Island was added to the database by Scott Smyers and Mark Mello. Volunteers with Friends of Mount Wachusett and the Massachusetts Audubon Society regularly contribute additional specimens. Additional specimens have accrued through regional BioBlitzes and through a Research Experience for Teachers collaboration with the J. R. Briggs Elementary School in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. In 2009, the PIs decided to expand the scope of the project to the six New England states. This expansion coincided with a regional effort to document ant diversity in bogs throughout New England (supported by an NSF award to the PIs) and the digitization of geographical records of 50 common New England ant species in the collection of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) by Dave Lubertazzi. Work is now underway to digitize records of the remaining New England ant species housed in the MCZ collections; to identify and digitize records of New England ant species housed in other major museums (American Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution); to make field collections in parts of New England that are poorly represented in museum collections. Data collected through the end of 2011 (datafile hf147-12) were used to create collection maps for A Field Guide to the Ants of New England, written by Aaron M. Ellison, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Elizabeth J. Farnsworth, and Gary D. Alpert, and published by Yale University Press. New ant species records for New England, the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Maritime Provinces of Canada accumulated since publication of A Field Guide to the Ants of New England are recorded in hf147-18. Revisions May 1, 2020: HF147-01 has been updated to reflect new and updated taxonomy and nomenclature since A Field Guide to the Ants of New England was published in 2012. Synonymy is provided in the data file.

新英格兰蚂蚁项目（The Ants of New England）是一项由多位研究者参与、耗时多年的系统性工作，旨在记录新英格兰六州（康涅狄格州、罗德岛州、马萨诸塞州、佛蒙特州、新罕布什尔州及缅因州）内蚁类（膜翅目：蚁科（Hymenoptera: Formicidae））的出现情况、分布范围与相对丰度。
该项目于1999年启动，最初聚焦范围较窄，旨在通过标准调查方法（陷阱诱捕、定时诱饵诱集、枯落物采样及目视搜寻；Gotelli与Ellison 2002、Ellison等2002），探明马萨诸塞州与佛蒙特州泥炭地及其周边森林的蚂蚁物种多样性。后续针对采样方法的详细分析显示，仅通过目视搜寻与枯落物采样，即可可靠获取该区域蚂蚁物种出现情况、分布与丰度的有效估计值（Ellison等2007）。
完成上述分析后，团队于2007年对马萨诸塞州境内的蚂蚁出现情况、分布与丰度开展初步调查。本次2007年调查聚焦于马萨诸塞州自然遗产与濒危物种计划（Swain与Kearsley 2001）所定义的自然群落类型中的蚂蚁，这些群落分布于马萨诸塞州奥杜邦协会（Massachusetts Audubon Society）与保护地托管委员会（The Trustees of the Reservations）所拥有的高保护与教育价值地块中。
2007年调查的核心目标如下：
1. 描述并量化马萨诸塞州境内蚂蚁的分布与丰度模式，确定区域“物种库”，为当地蚂蚁研究（例如哈佛森林暖蚁项目）提供基础支撑。
2. 建立基准基线，用于评估气候变化对物种分布的长期影响。
3. 构建一套指示物种集，用于评估当前及拟实施的管理策略的有效性，并揭示未来干扰与栖息地退化的影响。
4. 与保护合作伙伴（例如马萨诸塞州自然遗产与濒危物种计划MAS、保护地托管委员会TTOR、自然保护基金NCF等）正在开展或计划中的鸟类与植物定量调查进行对比。
5. 为合作组织奠定工作基础并开发能力，以便未来对更多样地及同一样地开展后续年度采样。
随着马萨诸塞州蚂蚁项目知名度提升，区域内的从业者陆续提交了额外标本。斯科特·斯迈尔斯（Scott Smyers）与马克·梅洛（Mark Mello）将楠塔基特岛陷阱诱捕采集的蚂蚁纵向采样序列（2004年至今）加入数据库。瓦楚塞特山之友（Friends of Mount Wachusett）与马萨诸塞州奥杜邦协会的志愿者定期提交额外标本。此外，区域生物多样性普查（BioBlitz）以及与马萨诸塞州阿什伯纳姆市J.R.布里格斯小学开展的“教师研究体验”合作项目也征集到了额外标本。
2009年，项目负责人决定将项目范围扩展至新英格兰六州。此次扩展恰逢两项相关区域工作：一是由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）资助项目负责人开展的新英格兰全境泥炭地蚂蚁多样性调查；二是戴夫·卢贝尔塔齐（Dave Lubertazzi）完成的哈佛比较动物学博物馆（MCZ）馆藏的50种新英格兰常见蚂蚁物种地理记录的数字化工作。目前，团队正推进以下工作：对MCZ馆藏中剩余新英格兰蚂蚁物种的记录进行数字化；对其他主要博物馆（美国自然历史博物馆、史密森学会）馆藏的新英格兰蚂蚁物种记录进行鉴定与数字化；对博物馆馆藏记录覆盖不足的新英格兰区域开展野外采样。
截至2011年底收集的数据（数据集hf147-12）被用于制作《新英格兰蚂蚁野外指南》的物种分布图。该指南由亚伦·M·埃尔森（Aaron M. Ellison）、尼古拉斯·J·戈泰利（Nicholas J. Gotelli）、伊丽莎白·J·法恩斯沃思（Elizabeth J. Farnsworth）与加里·D·阿尔珀特（Gary D. Alpert）撰写，由耶鲁大学出版社出版。
自《新英格兰蚂蚁野外指南》出版以来，新英格兰、中大西洋各州以及加拿大大西洋省份的蚂蚁新分布记录均收录于数据集hf147-18中。
2020年5月1日修订说明：hf147-01已更新，以反映2012年《新英格兰蚂蚁野外指南》出版以来的分类学与命名法更新与修订内容。数据集文件中提供了异名信息。