Avaliação rápida da diversidade de formigas em sistemas de uso do solo no sul da Bahia

Abstract

-We aimed to compare the soil ant diversity in different land use systems from Atlantic Forest area, in Southern Bahia state, Brazil. The ants were sampled in 16 sites: two primary forest sites (un-logged forest); three young secondary forests (<8 years old); three intermediate secondary forests (8-20 years old); three old secondary forests (>20 years old); three Eucalyptus grandis plantations (3-7 years old), and two introduced pastures. Each site was sampled in three sampling points 15 m apart, and distant over 50 m from the site edge. In each sampling point we gathered the litter from a 1 m 2 and extracted the ants with Winkler extractors during 48h. We found 103 ant species from 29 genera and eight subfamilies. The fi ve richest genera were Pheidole (19 species), Solenopsis (8), Apterostigma (10), Hypoponera (7) e Paratrechina (5). The highest ant richness density was found in the primary forest (7.4 species/sample; S = 37; n = 5); followed by the old secondary forest (5.33 species/sample; S = 48; n = 9); young secondary forest (5.25 species/sample; S = 42, n = 8); eucalyptus plantation (4.22 species/sample; S = 38, n = 9), intermediate secondary forest (3.5 species/sample; S = 35, n = 10, and introduced pasture (2.67 species/sample; S = 16, n = 6). The ecosystems with higher structural complexity showed the highest ant richness density by sample. Therefore, in the Atlantic Forest region, the eucalyptus plantation is a better alternative of land use to conserve the ant biodiversity than pastures, and quite similar to native secondary forests in ant community characteristics.

Habitat attribute similarities reduce impacts of land‐use conversion on seed removal

“…However, where agroecosystems have similar habitat attributes to those of native habitats ( e.g ., canopy cover and tree richness), the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning may be more limited (Braga et al . , Frizzo & Vasconcelos , Livingston et al . ).…”

Population survey of predatory insects in sugarcane in the municipality of União, Piauí state, Brazil, using light trap

“…For Azevedo et al (2011), large ant presence in almost all ecosystems is justified through ant cosmopolitan habits, ease of adaptation and generalist eating habits. According to Braga et al (2010), ants are good indicators of impact on ecosystems, as they are often present in various ecosystems and are very sensitive to disturbance. Santos et al (2012) stated that ants have a large species diversity, are present in most entomofauna surveys, and perform various functions in nature, where they may be predatory or feed on fungi, vegetables and organic debris.…”

Evaluation of soil fauna associated with litter in three forest types in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul

“…Resultado similar foi apresentado por Braga et al (2010) que, ao estudarem a diversidade de formigas em diferentes usos do solo, constataram que o agroecossistema eucaliptal apresentou uma importância similar às áreas florestais da Mata Atlântica, com diferentes estágios sucessionais, na conservação da diversidade das formigas, em contraste com as áreas de pastagem dessa região.…”