Assessing ant diversity in agroecosystems: the case of Italian vineyards of the Adige valley

Agroecosystems have gained a dominant position on worldwide land-usage, and therefore preserving their biodiversity is crucial for environmental sustainability. Ants are one of the most widespread groups of terrestrial arthropods, and, thanks to their significant diversification, they are considered as a good proxy group for biodiversity monitoring, also in agroecosystems. Vineyards are economically valuable cultures widespread worldwide, and hosting many ant species, that provide meaningful ecosystem services and disservices. Despite the important role that ants play in these agroecosystems, ant biodiversity in vineyards is still poorly studied, especially in Italy. In this context, we present a first detailed quantitative and qualitative assessment of the ant fauna of Italian vineyards from the Adige Valley based on pitfall traps data, and discuss the results in comparison with the few other similar assessments from Europe and other continents. We document an assemblage of 22 species (7-16 per orchard), mostly dominated by three disturbance-tolerant species (including an introduced species). Vineyards’ ant faunas appear to be rather heterogeneous worldwide, mainly following local ecological and biogeographical constraints, and the role that most ant species play in these agroecosystems is presently unknown.