Cupins de duas florestas de restinga do nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Termites from two restinga forests of Northeastern Brazil. The structure of termite communities was evaluated at two restinga forests (a characteristic type of vegetation occurring on nutrient-poor sandy soils along the Brazilian coastline), located in the municipalities of Mataraca and Cabedelo, State of Paraíba. A standardised sampling protocol was used in both sites. Twenty-five species were found, 19 of them at Mataraca and 15 at Cabedelo, with just 9 species in common to both sites. Species of Nasutitermitinae and wood-feeding groups were dominant at both study sites. The low species richness and frequency of humus-feeders species, and species of the subfamily Apicotermitinae as well, seem to be related to the restinga soil properties. The conspicuous nest (all arboreal) builders were Armitermes holmgreni Snyder, 1926, Microcerotermes exiguus (Hagen, 1858, M. strunckii (Sörensen, 1884), Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855), N. ephratae (Holmgren, 1910), and N. macrocephalus (Silvestri, 1903). The termite fauna of the studied restinga was composed by typical species of other Brazilian ecosystems, such as Atlantic forest and Cerrado, being in agreement with the general pattern of distribution set up by the plant communities and the fauna of vertebrates described elsewhere for other Brazilian restingas.

High termite richness in an urban fragment of Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil

“…Considering only the region north of the Sã o Francisco River, 37 species have been identified to the species level. Studies examining termite assemblages in the Atlantic Forest have reported between 21% and 100% nondetermined species (Bandeira et al1998, Silva & Bandeira 1999, Brandã o 1998, Vasconcellos et al 2005, Reis & Cancello 2007, Vasconcellos 2010, Souza et al 2012. The sampling effort used in this study was the highest ever made in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest fragment, which could partly explain the high species richness in relation to other studies in the same biome.…”

“…The number of species of termites in the Mata do Buraquinho PPA was greater than reports from other Atlantic Forest fragments, where richness varied from 11 to 38 species (Bandeira et al 1998, Silva & Bandeira 1999, Brandã o 1998, Vasconcellos et al 2005, Reis & Cancello 2007, Vasconcellos 2010, Souza et al 2012. In terms of other Brazilian morphoclimatic domains, the number of species encountered here was within the amplitude reported for areas of Cerrado vegetation (30 to 70 species) (Constantino 2005) and for the Amazon region (11 to 88 species) (Bandeira & Macambira 1988, Bandeira 1989, Constantino 1992, De Souza & Brown 1994, but higher than the amplitude reported for Caatinga areas (10 to 26 species) (Mélo & Bandeira 2004, Alves et al 2011.…”

“…Including four new records of this study (Ibitermes inflatus, Orthognathotermes longilamina, O. tubesauassu e Termes hispaniolae), a total of 46 species are now known from the Atlantic Forest (Bandeira et al 1998, Brandã o 1998, Vasconcellos et al 2005, Reis & Cancello 2007, Vasconcellos 2010, Souza et al 2012. Considering only the region north of the Sã o Francisco River, 37 species have been identified to the species level.…”

“…Other studies examining the termite fauna in Atlantic Forest areas have reported the subfamily Nasutitermitinae as dominant in terms of the numbers of species and relative abundance (Bandeira et al 1998, Brandã o 1998, Vasconcellos et al 2005, Reis & Cancello 2007, Vasconcellos 2010, Souza et al 2012. The low abundance observed for the family Kalotermitidae probably underestimates their true numbers, as most of the colonies of this termite group are quite small and form inside pieces of dried wood or in the canopies of trees, making their collection much more difficult when using rapid survey collection techniques (Roisin et al 2006, Reis & Cancello 2007.…”

“…Based on in situ observations of feeding and on information available in the literature concerning Neotropical termites (DeSouza & Brown 1994, Constantino 1999, Sena et al 2003,Vasconcellos et al 2005, Vasconcellos 2010, the species were classified as belonging to the following feeding groups: (i) wood-feeders, that consume the wood of live or dead trees in various stages of decomposition; (ii) soilfeeders, that feed on humus and generally live in the ground; (iii) wood/soil feeders, that consume humus as well as wood in different stages of decomposition, and usually carrying soil into the wood they are consuming; and (iv) wood/leaf feeders, that consume both wood in advanced stages of decomposition and leaf litter on the forest floor.…”