Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Silva,PSD
Data de Publicação: 2011
Outros Autores: Bieber,AGD, Corrêa,MM, Leal,IR
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Neotropical entomology (Online)
Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2011000500004
Resumo: The search for factors shaping leaf-litter ant communities has received particular attention due to the essential role of these insects in many ecological processes. Here, we aimed to investigate how the number of leaves and leaf morphotypes affect the litter-ant species density at forest edge and interior in an Atlantic Forest remnant in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. This study was developed based on 28 litter plots (1m² each), 14 in the forest interior and 14 in the forest edge. As we early expected, ant species density increased with increasing both the number of leaves and the number of leaf morphotypes, but this result was clearly influenced by plot location. Contrasting with the forest interior, ant species density did not increase as the number of leaves increased in the forest edge. Possibly, factors such as plant species richness, vegetation structure and environmental conditions affect ant species density as well as promote a patchy distribution of species in ant communities along the edge-to-interior gradient. Our findings suggest that edge-affected forests present more simplified ant communities, with different factors shaping its structure. We encourage future studies to include leaf litter heterogeneity as one of the explanatory variables investigated.
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spelling Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?Ant communityAtlantic forestedge-effectFormicidaelitter heterogeneityThe search for factors shaping leaf-litter ant communities has received particular attention due to the essential role of these insects in many ecological processes. Here, we aimed to investigate how the number of leaves and leaf morphotypes affect the litter-ant species density at forest edge and interior in an Atlantic Forest remnant in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. This study was developed based on 28 litter plots (1m² each), 14 in the forest interior and 14 in the forest edge. As we early expected, ant species density increased with increasing both the number of leaves and the number of leaf morphotypes, but this result was clearly influenced by plot location. Contrasting with the forest interior, ant species density did not increase as the number of leaves increased in the forest edge. Possibly, factors such as plant species richness, vegetation structure and environmental conditions affect ant species density as well as promote a patchy distribution of species in ant communities along the edge-to-interior gradient. Our findings suggest that edge-affected forests present more simplified ant communities, with different factors shaping its structure. We encourage future studies to include leaf litter heterogeneity as one of the explanatory variables investigated.Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil2011-10-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2011000500004Neotropical Entomology v.40 n.5 2011reponame:Neotropical entomology (Online)instname:Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB)instacron:SEB10.1590/S1519-566X2011000500004info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSilva,PSDBieber,AGDCorrêa,MMLeal,IReng2011-11-07T00:00:00Zoai:scielo:S1519-566X2011000500004Revistahttp://www.scielo.br/neONGhttps://old.scielo.br/oai/scielo-oai.php||editor@seb.org.br1678-80521519-566Xopendoar:2011-11-07T00:00Neotropical entomology (Online) - Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB)false
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
title Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
spellingShingle Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
Silva,PSD
Ant community
Atlantic forest
edge-effect
Formicidae
litter heterogeneity
title_short Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
title_full Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
title_fullStr Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
title_full_unstemmed Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
title_sort Do leaf-litter attributes affect the richness of leaf-litter ants?
author Silva,PSD
author_facet Silva,PSD
Bieber,AGD
Corrêa,MM
Leal,IR
author_role author
author2 Bieber,AGD
Corrêa,MM
Leal,IR
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Silva,PSD
Bieber,AGD
Corrêa,MM
Leal,IR
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Ant community
Atlantic forest
edge-effect
Formicidae
litter heterogeneity
topic Ant community
Atlantic forest
edge-effect
Formicidae
litter heterogeneity
description The search for factors shaping leaf-litter ant communities has received particular attention due to the essential role of these insects in many ecological processes. Here, we aimed to investigate how the number of leaves and leaf morphotypes affect the litter-ant species density at forest edge and interior in an Atlantic Forest remnant in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. This study was developed based on 28 litter plots (1m² each), 14 in the forest interior and 14 in the forest edge. As we early expected, ant species density increased with increasing both the number of leaves and the number of leaf morphotypes, but this result was clearly influenced by plot location. Contrasting with the forest interior, ant species density did not increase as the number of leaves increased in the forest edge. Possibly, factors such as plant species richness, vegetation structure and environmental conditions affect ant species density as well as promote a patchy distribution of species in ant communities along the edge-to-interior gradient. Our findings suggest that edge-affected forests present more simplified ant communities, with different factors shaping its structure. We encourage future studies to include leaf litter heterogeneity as one of the explanatory variables investigated.
publishDate 2011
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2011-10-01
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2011000500004
url http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2011000500004
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 10.1590/S1519-566X2011000500004
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv text/html
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Neotropical Entomology v.40 n.5 2011
reponame:Neotropical entomology (Online)
instname:Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB)
instacron:SEB
instname_str Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB)
instacron_str SEB
institution SEB
reponame_str Neotropical entomology (Online)
collection Neotropical entomology (Online)
repository.name.fl_str_mv Neotropical entomology (Online) - Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil (SEB)
repository.mail.fl_str_mv ||editor@seb.org.br
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