Litter as an Important Resource Determining the Diversity of Epigeic Ants in the South-Central Part of Bahia State, Brazil

Authors

  • Karine Santana Carvalho Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Ivan Cardoso do Nascimento Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Jacques Hubert Delabie Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Juliana Zina Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Ana Lucia Biggi Souza Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Elmo Borges de Azevedo Koch Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Marcos Augusto Ferraz Carneiro Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
  • Anselmo Souza Santos Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v59i4.512

Keywords:

epigeic ant fauna, Atlantic Rainforest, Caatinga, conservation, diversity

Abstract

This study evaluates the richness and composition of the epigeic ant fauna in two Caatinga areas (site 1: Brejo Novo and 2: Frizuba) within a transitional region (between the Caatinga and the Decidual Atlantic Forest) in the Municipality of Jequié, state of Bahia, Brazil. Ants were sampled using pitfall traps and Winkler extractor method in 50 randomly chosen points, totalizing a sampling area of 12.5 ha per site. Overall, we identified 60 species belongingto 27 genera. The most speciose genera were Pheidole, Camponotus, and Solenopsis (with five species each) followed by Wasmannia and Cephalotes (four species each). Pheidole sp1. was the most frequent species (occurring in approximately 60% of the samples). Since site 1 did not possess a litter layer (and therefore could not be sampled by the Winkler extractor) comparisons between the two areas were made using only the data provided by the pitfalltrap method. The Simpson diversity indexes calculated for sites 1 and 2 were 0.87 and 0.89, respectively, and showed no statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.417). The Jaccard coefficient revealed only 35.5% similarity in species composition between the two areas. The results suggest that the presence of litter contributed to increased species richness (the Winkler method added 28 species in the sum total of species collected) and “shaped” a distinct faunal composition of the area. The present study is the first ant fauna inventory in the region and reveals an unexplored conservation potential for the Decidual Forest and the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil.

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Published

2014-08-26

How to Cite

Carvalho, K. S., Nascimento, I. C. do, Delabie, J. H., Zina, J., Souza, A. L. B., Koch, E. B. de A., Carneiro, M. A. F., & Santos, A. S. (2014). Litter as an Important Resource Determining the Diversity of Epigeic Ants in the South-Central Part of Bahia State, Brazil. Sociobiology, 59(4), 1375–1387. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v59i4.512

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 4 (2012)

Section

Articles

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