Efeito da comunidade de artrópodes sobre a taxa de decomposição e liberação de nutrientes

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Elisangela Aparecida da
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: LOCUS Repositório Institucional da UFV
• Texto Completo: http://locus.ufv.br/handle/123456789/3892
• topic: Biodiversidade; Artrópodes; Taxa de decomposição; Taxa de liberação de nutrientes; Biodiversity; Arthropod; Decomposition rate; Nutrient release rate; CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ECOLOGIA::ECOLOGIA DE ECOSSISTEMAS

Several papers have been published recently to investigate the relationship between ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, even though a conclusive position regarding this subject is still lacking. This study tests the relationship between litter decomposition and nutrient release rates with litter arthropod species richness and composition. The hypotheses that (i) sites with higher litter arthropod species richness have higher decomposition and nutrient release rates, and (ii) litter arthropod species composition affects decomposition and nutrient release rates were tested, in a secondary re-growth forest in Brazil. Litter decomposition rates did not respond to litter arthropod species richness, suggesting a redundancy between arthropod species. This may signify that litter arthropod community is composed by groups of species that play similar roles in ecosystem functioning, so that the increase of species richness does not translate into changes of decomposition rates. On the other hand, there are group compositions that disfavor decomposition rates. When the mite groups Laelapidae and Trombidiinae, both composed of predator species, were present, there was a decrease of litter decomposition rates. These two groups could be considered as key-species, because they could decrease the abundance of several other groups that take part on the decomposition process. Concluding, even though several species apparently play similar roles on the decomposition process, there are some key-species that influence more dramatically the ecosystem process here analyzed.