Ant Biodiversity Within the Holtsville Wildlife and Ecology Center Serving as an Indicator of Environmental Pollutants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.1403Keywords:
biodiversity, ants, indicator species, former landfills, environmental pollutants, ecosystem stabilityAbstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the physical and genetic variations of ants at a former landfill, the Holtsville Wildlife and Ecology Center (HWEC), to infer if the biodiversity of these organisms, and thus the site, has been influenced by potential pollutants present at the center that could harm humans. Methods of phenotypic and genotypic analysis of the ants were used to understand species diversity at the HWEC. Ants are known as an indicator species, which made them viable organisms for use in this study and to view the impact of pollutants on human health. It was hypothesized that the presence of pollutants at the HWEC would be signaled by low ant biodiversity at different collection locations since biodiversity corresponds to ecosystem stability. Ants were collected from three distinct locations at the HWEC. Out of twenty-seven collected ants, twenty were selected for analysis. Using a silica extraction method, DNA was isolated and sequenced from these specimens. After sequencing, ten samples were removed from consideration due to poor results. Sequencing the ants from site 1 resulted in the species Tetramorium caespitum to be found. Ants from site 2 were the most diverse, containing the species Lasius alienus and Lasius neoniger. At site 3, ants returned as the species Tetramorium immigrans. Considering the entire HWEC’s biodiversity, the presence of four species of ants suggests high biodiversity, indicating overall stability. Since approximations of this stability came from ant biodiversity measurements and ants are described as excellent bioindicators, it is defended further, supporting the conclusion that there are no harmful pollutants in the center. This refutes this paper’s hypothesis, relieving concerns that the status of this specific center (HWEC) as a landfill-turned-park could cause human health issues, and illustrating that ant biodiversity can be indicative of pollutant presence at former landfills.
References
Andersen, A. N. (1997). Using Ants as bioindicators: Multiscale Issues in Ant
Community Ecology. Conservation Ecology, 1(1). http://www.jstor.org/stable/26271646
Armstrong, K., Ball, S., Lopes, C. T., & Ilha, L. M. (2005). DNA barcodes for
biosecurity: Invasive species identification. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 360(1462), 1813-1823.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1713
Burlakovs, J., & Vircavs, M. (2012). Waste dumps in latvia: Former landfilling,
consequences and possible recultivation. Chemistry Journal of Moldova,
(1), 83-90. https://doi.org/10.19261/cjm.2012.07(1).13
Chu, Z., Fan, X., Wang, W., & Huang, W.-C. (2019). Quantitative evaluation of heavy metals' pollution hazards and estimation of heavy metals' environmental costs in leachate during food waste composting. Waste Management, 84, 119–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.11.031
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. (n.d.). DNA Barcoding 101. https://dnalc.cshl.edu/websites/dnabarcoding101.html
de Rosa, E., Rubel, D., Tudino, M., Viale, A., & Lombardo, R. J. (1996). The leachate composition of an old waste dump connected to groundwater: Influence of the reclamation works. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 40(3), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00398869
Díaz Rizo, O., Hernández Merlo, M., Echeverría Castillo, F., & Arado López,
J. O. (2011). Assessment of metal pollution in soils from a former havana
(Cuba) solid waste open dump. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and
Toxicology, 88(2), 182-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-011-0505-7
Environmental Working Group. (2021). New York American Water – Merrick.
https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=NY2902840
Friedheim, S. (2016). Comparison of Species Identification Methods: DNA
Barcoding versus Morphological Taxonomy. Mānoa Horizons, 1(1), 74-86.
Grześ, I. M., Okrutniak, M., & Woch, M. W. (2014). Monomorphic ants undergo within-colony morphological changes along the metal-pollution gradient. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22(8), 6126–6134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3808-5
Heather, J. M., & Chain, B. (2016). The sequence of sequencers: The history of sequencing DNA. Genomics, 107(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygeno.2015.11.003
Kolenda, K., Salata, S., Kujawa, K., Kuśmierek, N., Smolis, A., & Kadej, M.
(2020). Deadly trap or sweet home? The case of discarded containers as
novelty microhabitats for ants. Global Ecology and Conservation, 23,
e01064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01064
Lawes, M. J., Moore, A. M., Andersen, A. N., Preece, N. D., & Franklin, D. C. (2017). Ants as ecological indicators of Rainforest Restoration: Community Convergence and the development of an Ant Forest indicator index in the Australian Wet Tropics. Ecology and Evolution, 7(20), 8442–8455. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2992
Loreau, M., & de Mazancourt, C. (2013). Biodiversity and ecosystem stability: A
synthesis of underlying mechanisms. Ecology Letters, 16(s1), 106-115.
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12073
Marizzi, C., Florio, A., Lee, M., Khalfan, M., Ghiban, C., Nash, B., Dorey, J.,
McKenzie, S., Mazza, C., Cellini, F., Baria, C., Bepat, R., Cosentino, L.,
Dvorak, A., Gacevic, A., Guzman-Moumtzis, C., Heller, F., Holt, N. A.,
Horenstein, J., . . . Puthenkalam, I. (2018). DNA barcoding brooklyn (New
york): A first assessment of biodiversity in marine park by citizen
scientists. PLOS ONE, 13(7), e0199015. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199015
Martins, C., de Souza, R. F., & Bueno, O. C. (2014). Molecular characterization
of fire ants, solenopsis spp., from brazil based on analysis of mtDNA gene
cytochrome oxidase I. Journal of Insect Science, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/14.1.50
Mendes, A., Galvão, P., de Sousa, J., da Silva, I., & Carneiro, R. N. (2017). Relations of the groundwater quality and disorderly occupation in an amazon low-income neighborhood developed over a former dump area, santarém/pa, brazil. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 21(1), 353-368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-017-0040-8
Moreira, C. A., Leandro, C. G., Lopes, C. T., & Ilha, L. M. (2017). DC
resistivity investigation in a fractured aquifer system contaminated by
leachate from an old dump. Geofísica Internacional, 56(4). https://doi.org/10.22201/igeof.00167169p.2017.56.4.1827
Pawlowski, J., Kelly-Quinn, M., Altermatt, F., Apothéloz-Perret-Gentil, L., Beja, P., Boggero, A., Borja, A., Bouchez, A., Cordier, T., Domaizon, I., Feio, M. J., Filipe, A. F., Fornaroli, R., Graf, W., Herder, J., van der Hoorn, B., Iwan Jones, J., Sagova-Mareckova, M., Moritz, C., . . . Vitek, S. (2018). The future of biotic indices in the ecogenomic era: Integrating (e)DNA metabarcoding in biological assessment of aquatic ecosystems. Science of the Total Environment, 637-638, 1295-1310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.002
Pereira, F., Carneiro, J., & Amorim, A. (2008). Identification of species with DNA-based technology: current progress and challenges. Recent patents on DNA & gene sequences, 2(3), 187–199. https://doi.org/10.2174/187221508786241738
Pukkala, E., & Pönkä, A. (2001). Increased incidence of cancer and asthma in houses built on a former dump area. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(11), 1121–1125. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.011091121
Skaldina, O., Peräniemi, S., & Sorvari, J. (2018). Ants and their nests as
indicators for industrial heavy metal contamination. Environmental
Pollution, 240, 574-581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.134
Smith, M. A., Hallwachs, W., Janzen, D. H., & Segura, R. B. (2013). DNA
Barcoding a Collection of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Isla Del
Coco, Costa Rica. Florida Entomologist, 96(4), 1500-1507. https://doi.org/10.1653/024.096.0431
Somani, M., Datta, M., Ramana, G., & Sreekrishnan, T. R. (2020). Contaminants in soil-like material recovered by landfill mining from five old dumps in india. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 137, 82-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2020.02.010
Tiede, Y., Schlautmann, J., Donoso, D. A., Wallis, C. I., Bendix, J., Brandl, R., & Farwig, N. (2017). Ants as indicators of environmental change and ecosystem processes. Ecological Indicators, 83, 527-537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.01.029
Town of Brookhaven, NY1. (n.d.). Free Compost/Mulch. https://www.brookhavenny.gov/385/Free-Compost-Mulch
Town of Brookhaven, NY2. (n.d.). Holtsville Ecology Site. https://www.brookhavenny.gov/197/Holtsville-Ecology-Site
Town of Hempstead, NY. (n.d.). Facilities. Town of Hempstead, Long Island, NY.
https://hempsteadny.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Norman-J-Levy-Park-Preserve-110
Wisconsin Division of Public Health. (2001). Human Health Hazards---Former Dumps and Landfills. Wisconsin Department of Health Services. https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p4/p45017.pdf
Downloads
Posted
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Carlo Costigliola
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.