Restoration of riparian forest corridors: eight years monitoring the diversity of soil ants in an Andean rural landscape

Abstract

1. Ecological restoration of riparian forest corridors at the landscape scale can facilitate recruitment of certain flora and fauna, thus possibly helping to maintain viable wildlife populations.2. We evaluated ecological restoration of three corridors between two protected Andean forests. Soil ants and eight environmental variables focused on edaphic conditions were monitored for 8 years following restoration activity. Soil ants were collected in pitfall traps and by leaf litter extraction on 21 plots classified into five types of habitat: large forest patches, riparian forests, two types of restoration corridors on former timber and pasture land (R-Forestry and R-Pasture, respectively), and Pasture.3. A total of 132 ant species belonging to 40 genera were found. Among these, 112 species were found in Forests, 105 in Riparian, 80 in R-Forestry, 79 in R-Pasture and 63 in Pasture. Composition analyses (canonical correspondence analysis and NMDS) showed that the ant community in restoration corridors and pastures is far from resembling that of the forests. Yet, there is biological progress with respect to the Pasture.4. Gnamptogenys bisulca and Pheidole pygmaea were indicator species for advanced restoration progress because of their close association to forests, while Linepithema piliferum indicated a reversal of restoration progress due to its preference for open habitats.5. Since both ant richness and composition in restored areas do not yet resemble the reference forest ecosystem, we suggest that other interventions such as restoring wider corridors and changing to wild-friendly agriculture around the reserves might improve restoration efforts in Andean landscapes.

A Review of Forest Management Effects on Terrestrial Leaf Litter Inhabiting Arthropods

“…In general, decomposers are less abundant in anthropogenic sites that have been cleared for pasture or other agricultural use [58,59]. However, some authors have found no differences among certain communities, such as ants, among primary forests and forests disturbed for agricultural uses [60].…”

Restoring Riparian Ecosystems During the UN-Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: A Global Perspective

“…High plant diversity is observed in riparian zones (Handcock et al 1996;Olson et al 2007). Apart from plant diversity, faunal diversity is also high among riparian ecosystems (Ribeiro et al 2012;Vasconcellos et al 2013;Jiménez-Carmona et al 2020;Chen et al 2021).…”

“…Short-term biological benefits include the improvement in fish diversity, soil micro, macrofauna, plant biodiversity, etc. (Opperman and Merenlender 2004;Jiménez-Carmona et al, 2020). The positive impact of restoration on the soil/geomorphology are improved riparian bank, soil structure, soil nutrients, etc.…”