Effect of habitat structure on ant assemblages associated to two pioneer tree species (Hymenoptera : formicidae).
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2006
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Resumo
The present study investigates the effects of ant species distributions among
host tree crowns in response to surrounding habitat. It was developed at the
State Park of Rio Doce, in the middle basin of the Doce river, South Eastern
Brazil. The studied plants were Mabea fistulifera Mart. (Euphorbiaceae), a forest
border ecotone pioneer species, and Byrsonima sericea DC. (Malphigiaceae),
a forest-lake ecotone colonizer species. Ants were sampled on the tree crowns
for using a beating device, during one dry and two wet seasons thus comparing
ecotone and interior forest habitats. In total 335 ant individuals were collected
belonging to 5 subfamilies, 15 genera and 40 species. A MANOVA model
shows differences in species richness only for the wet season of 2001, where
the mean number of ant species per tree was nearly double in the ecotones
than in the forest, regardless of which host plant. Ant abundance did not
differ between habitats (ecotone and forests), but Mabea fistulifera had, on
average, three times more ant individuals on its crown than B. sericea in the
wet season of 2001. In addition, this value found for M. fistulifera was higher
than any other overall abundance estimate in the following dry or wet season.
A discriminant analysis showed how the ant fauna composition was distinct
in the artificial ecotone site between sampling periods, which demonstrate
how a disturbance can modify the ant species composition in comparison
with preserved habitats. However, the ant fauna on M. fistulifera in the interior
forest and on B. sericea in the ecotone were more similar than any other sub-set of species, suggesting that micro-habitat ecological conditions and
geological history could influence more ant species distribution than host
plant or ecotone-interior contrasts.
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Anopy, Ecotone, Heterogeneity, Semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest
Citação
CAMPOS, R. I. de et al. Effect of habitat structure on ant assemblages associated to two pioneer tree species (Hymenoptera: formicidae). Ecography, Copenhagen, v. 29, p. 442-450, 2006. Disponível em: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2006.0906-7590.04520.x/full>. Acesso em: 20 de jul. 2017.