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The effects of harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex rugosus) nests on on soil characteristics were measured at three locations characterized by different soils and dominant vegetation on a desert watershed. Data set contains chemical analyses for soil samples collected from five ant nests for each of the three sites for total nitrogen, (ammonium, nitrate), inorganic phosphorus, and exchangeable cations (K+, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+). Also included is below ground biomass from five ant nests for each of the three sites.There were few differences in soils associated with harvester ant nests at locations at the base of the watershed where brief periods of flooding and sediment deposition occur at periodic intervals. At mid-slope locations, there were significant increases in total nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, of four species of spring annuals at the edges of nest disks when compared with reference sites. At a clay-loam, Scleropogon-Hilaria, grassland site, there were significant reductions in the concentrations of Ca 2+ and Mg 2+, and significant increases in nitrate and total nitrogen. The data demonstrate that the effects of ants on soil properties and vegetation vary with site location and soil type. This sampling is complete. Please refer to the following article for more information:

Whitfort, Walter G. and Rudolfo DiMarco. 1995. Variability in soils and vegetation associated with harvester ant nests on a Chihuahuan Desert watershed. Biol Fertil Soils 20: 169-173.