Recolonization by Ants in Bauxite Mines Rehabilitated by a Number of Different Methods

Is thirty-seven years sufficient for full return of the ant biota following restoration?

“…In an attempt to provide rapid answers about the nature of ant succession in the rehabilitation, an intensive, shortterm, chronosequence study was performed in the summer of 1978-1979(Majer et al 1984. Twenty-eight bauxite mines and three forest references were surveyed by transects of pitfall traps, vegetation sweeping, tree beating, and both day and night hand collecting.…”

“…Using the original plot numbers of Majer et al (1984), these were plot 2 (planted with exotic Pinus pinaster in 1970; topsoil stockpiled), plot 10 (planted with exotic E. resinifera in 1970; topsoil stockpiled), plot 22 (mulched and planted with native marri and wandoo Eucalyptus wandoo in 1977; topsoil stockpiled), plot 20 (seeded native understorey with planted exotic E. resinifera and native marri in 1976; topsoil stockpiled), and plot 23 (double-stripped, fresh topsoil with planted native marri in 1975). In addition, two forest references were resampled; one at the Jarrahdale mine site and the other at Del Park.…”

Using Ants as bioindicators: Multiscale Issues in Ant Community Ecology

“…Traditionally, bioindicators have been used to assess ecosystem responses to environmental perturbation, often associated with human land use (Noss 1990, Spellerberg 1993, McKenzie et al 1995. For 20 years, for example, the Australian mining industry has used ant species richness and composition as indicators of restoration success (Majer et al 1984, Andersen 1997a, and these protocols have been exported to Brazil (Majer 1992) and South Africa (Majer and de Kock 1992). Patterns of ant species richness and composition at mine sites undergoing restoration have been shown to reflect recolonization by other invertebrate groups (Majer 1983, Andersen 1997a, as well as changes in soil microbial biomass (Andersen and Sparling 1997).…”

Análise faunística das formigas epígeas (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) em campo nativo no Planalto das Araucárias, Rio Grande do Sul

“…O inventário de espécies pode fornecer informações sobre a distribuição zoogeográfica, propriedades biológicas e sobre a presença de espécies raras ou ecologicamente importantes, sejam elas introduzidas ou endêmicas (Wilson 1997;. Por suas características biológicas e ecológicas (Majer 1983(Majer , 1984Majer et al 1984;Andersen 1987;Lobry de Bruyn 1999), o conhecimento da diversidade de formigas de uma determinada área pode fornecer importantes informações para planos de manejo e conservação, uma vez que a riqueza e a composição das espécies podem indicar o grau de conservação ou de degradação local, ou ainda uma possível vulnerabilidade a mudanças ambientais . A região do Planalto das Araucárias no sul do Brasil se caracteriza pelo terreno ondulado a fortemente ondulado.…”