Ant species of the Tierra de pinares (Castilla y León, España) and potential recolonization sources for logged sites

We asked in this work about the ant species that inhabit pine forests, the riparian vegetation zones and the surrounding matrix (arable land, grazing areas) of “Tierra de Pinares” on the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula as potential sources of recolonization of logged sites. A total of 38 ant species were collected in the study. 31 ant species were detected in the pine forests, 17 along the Adaja River, and 22 species in the surrounding sample matrix sites. The process of colonization of cleared areas of the pine forest seems to depend basically on the ant species of the pine forest itself. The ant assemblages of riparian vegetation and cereal steppes surrounding pine forests are closer among them than to the ant assemblages of the pine forest. Keywords: ants, logging, Iberian Peninsula, Tierra de Pinares.