Threats to biodiversity are global and are usually a direct result of human impacts through habitat loss and fragmentation. Invertebrates are the most commonly used organisms for measuring biodiversity, especially insects because of their abundance, diversity, functional importance, their sensitivity to disturbance and ease of sampling. Ants are important components of ecosystems and are often termed “ecosystem engineers.” They are also highly responsive to human impacts that reduce their species richness. The aims of this study are to evaluate the impacts that anthropogenic disturbance has on the leaf-litter ant communities in the temperate forests of northeastern Ohio. The study areas consist of relatively large forest fragments isolated from one another by a highly modified or degraded landscape. Sampling plots (10m x 20m) were distributed randomly throughout the study sites. More than 300 plots were located on the ground using GPS and permanently marked. Two sampling techniques were used for the ant collection: litter extraction from 1m2 subplots using Winkler Extractors, and pitfall trapping. Data from 50 plots in 5 reservations were collected in 2005. A total of 5636 workers were collected representing 28 ant species from 5 subfamilies. Our preliminary results show no evidence that forest fragment size dictates the species richness and the diversity of the ants in the studied areas. However, changes in the species composition of the different forest fragments were documented. Additional 40 plots were sampled in 2006. All materials are in a process of processing and identification.