Effects of Vegetation Structure on Ant Diversity in Different Seasonal Periods in Impacted Fragments of Atlantic Forest

Authors

  • Raquel Cetto Sampaio Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, ICBS, UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ, Brazil
  • Bianca Ferreira da Silva Laviski Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro
  • Renata Cristina de Souza Coelho Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, IF, UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ, Brazil
  • Jarbas Marçal de Queiroz Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, IF, UFRRJ, Seropédica-RJ, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v70i2.7949

Keywords:

Diversity partitioning, CCA, Seasonality, environmental variables, secondary

Abstract

The destruction of forest habitats generates extremely fragmented areas and changes in vegetation structure. That changes the characteristics of microhabitats and the availability of resources and affects the diversity of animal species such as ants, which are a large group with an important ecological role. As ants forage on trees and shrubs, the vegetation structure can affect the presence of these organisms. Abiotic factors such as seasonality can also influence the diversity of the ant community. Based on that, this study aimed to investigate the distribution of the diversity of ant species that forage on plants in different seasonal periods. The study was carried out in eight secondary forest fragments of the Atlantic Forest. We used additive partitioning of diversity, partitioning of β diversity and canonical correspondence analysis to measure the effect of seasonality and vegetation structure on the distribution of ant species diversity. The rainy season positively influences the diversity of ants that forage on plants. Composition was affected by shrub leaf density in the rainy season and by tree circumference in the dry. Each fragment preserved a different pool of ant species, and the vegetation structure positively influenced ant diversity. These results highlight the importance of conserving the majority of forest fragments to better preserve the pool of ant species regionally.

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Published

2023-06-15

How to Cite

Sampaio, R. C., Laviski, B. F. da S., Coelho, R. C. de S., & Queiroz, J. M. de. (2023). Effects of Vegetation Structure on Ant Diversity in Different Seasonal Periods in Impacted Fragments of Atlantic Forest. Sociobiology, 70(2), e7949. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v70i2.7949

Issue

Vol. 70 No. 2 (2023)

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Research Article - Ants

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Copyright (c) 2023 Raquel Cetto Sampaio, Bianca Ferreira da Silva Laviski, Renata Cristina de Souza Coelho, Jarbas Marçal de Queiroz

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