Ground-dwelling ant fauna of sites with high levels of copper

Abstract

Richness and diversity of ant species are related to environmental factors such as vegetation, soil, presence of heavy metals, and insecticides, which allow the use of the assemblage members as terrestrial indicators of environmental conservation status. This study presents the results of ground ants surveyed in Minas do Camaquã in the municipality of Cacapava do Sul (Camaquã Basin), State of Rio Grande do Sul. Collections were performed in four sites, which high levels of copper in the soil, three of which--a mine, a liquid reject, and a solid reject-, had sparse or no plant cover, and one site where Pinus has been used for rehabilitation. Parque das Guaritas was the control site, since it presented normal levels of copper and a dense savanna cover. For each site, three transect lines extending 100 m were draw, and at each 10 m sardine baits were distributed; after two hours the ants present were collected. Hand collections in all five sites were performed during one hour (capture effort). A total of 51 species belonging to 17 genera were collected. The control site was the richest in ant species (r = 45). Sites with high level of copper and poor plant cover presented the lowest richness: mine (r = 14), solid reject (r = 15), and liquid reject (r = 16). In contrast, the site planted with Pinus presented an increment in richness (r = 24) of ground-dwelling ants, suggesting a reahabilitation process.

Establishment of ant communities in forests growing on former agricultural fields: Colonisation and 25 years of management are not enough (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…Species richness of ants in small plots sampled by pitfall traps has to be interpreted with caution. Frequently, high ant species richness is used as a measure of the high nature value of a particular site (Dekoninck et al, 2003(Dekoninck et al, , 2007Dauber & Simmering, 2006) or suggests how successful (Diehl et al, 2004) or fast (Bisevac & Majer, 1999) the rehabilitation process has been. This is not always the case.…”

Richness of Termites and Ants in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil

“…Environmental disturbances, such as deforestation, forest fragmentation, fire, and floods may affect the community structure of termites (De Souza & Brown, 1994;Eggleton et RESEARCH ARTICLE -ANTS al., 1994, 1995Davies, 2002;Bandeira et al, 2003;Inoue et al, 2006) and ants (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990;Majer & Nichols, 1998;Diehl et al, 2004;Schmidt & Diehl, 2008). Previous studies have shown that local species richness of ants and termites is influenced by environmental factors, such as temperature, rainfall, and vegetation (Benson & Harada, 1988;Silva & Brandão, 1999;Gathorne-Hardy et al, 2001;Oliveira & Del-Claro, 2005;Del-Claro, 2008;Jones & Eggleton, 2011).…”

Forest Succession Endangers the Special Ant Fauna of Abandoned Quarries along the River Meuse (Wallonia, Belgium)

“…High ant species richness and diversity are often used as indicators for high nature value in particular sites (Lassau & Hochuli 2004; Dauber & Simmering 2006) or suggest a successful (Diehl et al 2004) or fast (Bisevac & Majer 1999) rehabilitation process. When sampling small habitat patches, as we did, the observation of high species numbers should be interpreted with caution because there might be intrusion of “nonsite characteristic” species (Dauber & Wolters 2004).…”

“…In Western Europe, invertebrates are being used occasionally to evaluate management and restoration in abandoned mining sites (in Germany: Dunger et al 2001; in Belgium: Lock et al 2001). In Australia (Majer 1983; Andersen 1995; Majer & Nichols 1998; Bisevac & Majer 1999; Hoffmann et al 2000; Majer et al 2007), Brazil (Majer 1996; Diehl et al 2004) and South Africa (Majer & Koch 1992; Redi et al 2005), several studies have proved the usefulness of ants for this purpose. In Mediterranean Europe, ants were used as indicators of restoration processes in a rehabilitated lignite mine in Central Italy (Ottonetti et al 2006).…”