New (returning) FEP team member Kyle Bradford will be giving a talk titled “Ants of inland Massachusetts Barrens”, which will discuss his master’s thesis project (see talk description below) at the Berkshire Natural History Conference on Saturday, October 1. Go here for details on the conference, which will be held at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, MA, on Saturday, Oct. 1, 9am-4pm.
Pine barrens and other dry, disturbance-dependent natural communities provide habitat for many rare and threatened wildlife, including ants. However, the ant fauna of inland Massachusetts barrens is not well documented. In 2020 we sampled 18 barrens sites, including three in Berkshire County, to document ant diversity, and better understand the effects of management, vegetation structure, and other biotic factors on ant diversity and abundance. This talk will discuss what we learned about the ant fauna in Berkshire County and more generally our findings and management implications for inland Massachusetts barrens.