Ant Survey, Victorian Dry Eucalypt SuperSite, Wombat, Core 1 ha, 2015

Ants are Australia’s dominant faunal group in terms of biomass and energy flow. They occupy all trophic levels, act as ecosystem engineers, feature in many mutualistic interactions with plants, and are a key food resource for many vertebrates. Ants are also Australia’s best studied insect group in terms of biogeography and community dynamics. They are the most widely used invertebrate bio-indicators in environmental assessment and monitoring. Ants were collected in May 2015 and stored in ethanol for taxonomic assessment.

蚂蚁是澳大利亚在生物量与能量流动方面占主导地位的动物类群。它们占据所有营养级，扮演生态系统工程师（ecosystem engineers）的角色，参与诸多与植物的互利共生互作，同时亦是众多脊椎动物的关键食物资源。
在生物地理学（biogeography）与群落动态研究领域，蚂蚁也是澳大利亚被研究最为深入的昆虫类群。它们是环境评估与监测领域应用最广泛的无脊椎动物生物指示物（bio-indicators）。
蚂蚁样本于2015年5月采集，并用乙醇保存以开展分类学评估（taxonomic assessment）。