Ecological effects of harvester ant Messor capensis nest-mounds on Karoo plants

Abstract

The influence of harvester ant Messor capensis nest-mounds on plants in arid shrubland was investigated at Tierberg, Prince Albert, Cape Province, during 1991. Nest-mound soils contained significantly more phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and organic matter than surrounding soils. Nest-mound soils also contained more viable seeds than the soil of inter-mound spaces, and more seedlings germinated on nest-mounds than in inter-mound spaces.