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TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE 9
PREFACE OF THE EDITOR OF THE RUSSIAN EDITION 13
INTRODUCTION 17
CHAPTER 1. CLIMATE AND LANDSCAPES OF THE UPPER KOLYMA REGION 29
Factors of landscape formation 33
Relief and altitudinal belts 33
Permafrost conditions 34
Climate 36
Factors of microclimate formation 39
Ecosystems of the Area 40
Ecosystems of the sparse larch forest belt 40
Ecosystems of slopes 41
Ecosystems of watersheds 50
Post-fire ecosystems 53
Ecosystems of river valleys 57
Ecosystems of mountain tundras 64
CHAPTER 2. ESSAYS ON THE HABITAT DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF NEST ORGANIZATION OF THE ANTS 69
Myrmica kamtschatica Kupianskaya, 1986 71
Myrmica bicolor Kupianskaya, 1986 74
Myrmica sulcinodis Nylander, 1846 76
Myrmica angulinodis Ruzsky, 1905 76
Myrmica transsibirica Radtschenko, 1993 77
Leptothorax acervorum (Fabricius, 1793) 78
Leptothorax muscorum (Nylander, 1846) 91
Camponotus herculeanus (Linnaeus, 1758) 94
Camponotus saxatilis Ruzsky, 1885 97
Formica fusca Linnaeus, 1758 97
Formica lemani Bondroit, 1917 98
Formica truncorum Fabricius, 1804 108
Formica candida F. Smith, 1878 109
Formica gagatoides Ruzsky, 1904 114
Formica sanguinea Latreille, 1798 119
Formica exsecta Nylander, 1846 120
Formica aquilonia Yarrow, 1955 127
Formica lugubris Zetterstedt, 1840 127
Ant population 128
The place of ants in the soil macrofauna community 137
CHAPTER 3. OVERWINTERING TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS OF ANTS IN THE UPPER KOLYMA REGION 141
Methodological approaches 141
Air temperature 144
Snow cover 145
Lowest soil temperatures 147
Seasonal dynamics and extreme temperature in ant nests 158
Ranges of lowest temperatures in soils and in ant nests 178
CHAPTER 4. ANT COLD-HARDINESS AND ITS DETERMINING PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL FACTORS 182
Basic concepts of insect cold-hardiness 182
Equipment and methods of study 187
Supercooling point measurement 187
Determination of ant mortality under low sub-zero temperatures 193
Analysis of the chemical composition of ants 194
Dependence of temperature parameters of ant cold-hardiness on the composition of the studied samples 195
Eff ect of fullness of the crop on the cold-hardiness of ants in summer 195
Diff erences in the cold-hardiness of ants from different parts of the nest 199
Diff erences in the cold-hardiness of ants from different nests in the same area 201
Dependence of the cold-hardiness of overwintering ants on microclimatic conditions 202
Seasonal changes and determining physiological and biochemical factors of the cold-hardiness of ants in the Upper Kolyma region 203
Seasonal changes in the cold-hardiness of ants from the genera Myrmica, Camponotus and Leptothorax. 204
Seasonal changes in the cold-hardiness of ants of the genus Formica 212
Characteristics of emergence from overwintering in different species 216
Resistance of ants to long-term exposure to sub-zero temperatures 220
Dependence of ant mortality on duration of exposure 220
Dependence of ant mortality on temperature under long-term exposure 222
Cold-hardiness of ants from diff erent geographical populations 228
Overwintering conditions of ants in the environs Tvärminne, Kevo and Magadan 230
Cold-hardiness of ants in the environs Tvärminne, Kevo and Magadan 234
Cold-hardiness and climatic conditions 237
Some general results 241
CHAPTER 5. ON THE CONNECTION OF COLD-HARDINESS, OVERWINTERING TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANTS 243
Group I (L. acervorum, L. muscorum, C. herculeanus) 243
Group II (F. gagatoides, M. kamtschatica, M. bicolor) 249
Group III (F. candida, F. exsecta, F. sanguinea, F. lemani) 250
Is the geographical distribution of ants limited by their overwintering conditions? 256
On the possible role of biotic relationships in depletion of ant fauna 262
CONCLUSIONS 266
REFERENCES 275
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