Ant Fauna in Megadiverse Mountains: a Checklist for the Rocky Grasslands
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v62i2.228-245Keywords:
Ant checklist, altitudinal gradient, campos rupestres, Espinhaço MountainsAbstract
The rocky grasslands, environments locally known as campos rupestres, occur mainly along the Espinhaço Mountains and are considered local centers of biodiversity and endemism in Brazil. However, knowledge of ant species richness (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in this kind of environment is still poor. Aiming at filling this gap, we compiled information from empirical studies and literature records. We found a total of 288 species of 53 genera and eight subfamilies recorded in rocky grasslands. Myrmicinae and Formicinae were the most representative subfamilies, with 53% and 18% of the total species richness, respectively. The genera with the largest number of species were Pheidole (41) and Camponotus (40). This large number of ant species recorded for the rocky grasslands surpasses those found in other studies conducted in several different places. Ant species richness decreased with altitude; most species occur below 800 m a.s.l. (171), and only a few species occur above1600 m a.s.l. (17). Some genera occur only at a specific altitude (e.g., Azteca and Dolichoderus at 800/900 m a.s.l.; Leptogenys and Labidus at 1400 m a.s.l.), which points out to the potential use of ants as biological indicators. Our results suggest that the rocky grasslands favor high ant diversity. The patterns of ant richness associated with the altitude gradient reinforce the idea of considering the rocky grasslands as priority areas for biological conservation. Moreover, we observed a lack of records on the occurrence of most ant species considered in the present study (93%), which shows that Brazilian myrmecologists need to invest more in taxonomy, management, and data sharing.
Downloads
References
Almeida, M.F., Santos, B.L.R. & Carneiro, M.A.A. (2014). Senescent stem-galls in trees of Eremanthus erythropappus as a resource for arboreal ants. Rev. Bras. Entomol, 58: 265–272.
Alonso, L.E. (2010). Ant Conservation: Current Status and a Call to Action. In: L. Lach, C.L. Parr, and K.L. Abbott (Eds.), Ant ecology (pp. 52-74). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alves R.J.V., Silva N.G., Oliveira J.A., Medeiros D. (2014) Circumscribing campo rupestre–megadiverse Brazilian rocky montane savanas. Braz. J. Biol. 74: 355–362. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.23212
AntCat. Available from http://antcat.org/ (acessed date: 18 November, 2014).
AntWeb. Available from: http://www.antweb.org/. (accessed date: 18 November, 2014).
AntWiki. Available from: http://www.antwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed date: 18 November, 2014).
Araújo L.M. & Fernandes G.W. (2003) Altitudinal patterns in a tropical ant assemblage and variation in species richness between habitats. Lundiana 4:103–109.
Barbosa N.P.U., Fernandes G.W., Carneiro M.A.A. & Júnior L.A.C. (2010) Distribution of non-native invasive species and soil properties in proximity to paved roads and unpaved roads in a quartzitic mountainous grassland of southeastern Brazil (rupestrian fields). Biol Invasions 12:3745–3755. doi: 10.1007/s10530-010-9767-y
Barbosa, N.P.U. (2012). Modelagem de distribuição aplicada aos campos rupestres. PhD Thesis, UFMG. 117p.
Bharti H. & Sharma Y. (2013) Ant species richness, endemicity and functional groups, along an elevational gradient in the Himalayas. Asian Myrmecol 5:79–101.
Bishop T.R., Robertson M.P., Van Rensburg B.J., Parr C.L. (2014) Elevation-diversity patterns through space and time: Ant communities of the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains of southern Africa. J Biogeogr 1–13. doi: 10.1111/jbi.12368
Bolton B., Alpert G., Ward P.S., Naskrecki P. (2005) Bolton’s catalogue of ants of the world - 1758-2005. Harvard University Press, CD-Room.
Brandão C., Silva R. & Delabie J. (2012) Neotropical Ants (Hymenoptera) Functional Groups: Nutritional and Applied Implications. Insect Bioecology Nutr. Integr. Pest Manag. pp 213–236.
Brandão С. (1991) Adendos ao Catálogo Abreviado das Formigas da Região Neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Rev. Bras. Entomol. 35:319–412.
Brühl C., Mohamed M. & Linsenmair K. (1999) Altitudinal distribution of leaf litter ants along a transect in primary forests on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. J. Trop. Ecol. 15:265–277.
Campos R., Vasconcelos H.L., Andersen A.N., Frizzo T.L.M. & Spena K.C. (2011) Multi‐scale ant diversity in savanna woodlands: an intercontinental comparison. Austral. Ecol. 36: 983–992. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.2011.02255.x
Cardoso P., Erwin T.L., Borges P.A.V. & New T.R. (2011) The seven impediments in invertebrate conservation and how to overcome them. Biol. Conserv. 144:2647–2655. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.07.024
CRIA specieslink. Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental, Campinas. Available from: http://splink.cria.org.br/. (accessed date: 18 November, 2014).
Dias H., Filho E., Schaefer C., Fontes L.E.F. & Ventorim L.B. (2002) Geoambientes do Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca, município de Lima Duarte-MG. Rev. Árvore 26:777–786.
Fagundes R., Ribeiro S.S.P. & Del-Claro K. (2013) Tending-Ants Increase Survivorship and Reproductive Success of Calloconophora pugionata Drietch (Hemiptera, Membracidae), a Trophobiont Herbivore of Myrcia obovata O.Berg (Myrtales, Myrtaceae). Sociobiology 60:11–19.
Fernandes G.W., Barbosa N.P.U., Negreiros D. & Paglia A.P. (2014) Challenges for the conservation of vanishing megadiverse rupestrian grasslands. Nat. Conserv. 8–11.
Fernández F. (2003) Introducción a las hormigas de la región Neotropical. Inst. Investig. Recur. Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt 398 p.
Fernández F. & Sendoya S. (2004) List of Neotropical ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Biota Colomb. 5:93.
Fisher B.L. (1996) Ant diversity patterns along a elevational gradient in the Réserve Naturelle Intégrate d’Andringitra, Madagascar. Fieldiana Zool. 85:93–108.
Gastauer M., Messias M.C.T.B. & Meira-Neto J.A.A. (2012) Floristic Composition, Species Richness and Diversity of Campo Rupestre Vegetation from the Itacolomi State Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Environ. Nat. Resour. Res. doi: 10.5539/enrr.v2n3p115
Giulietti A., Menezes N., Pirani J.R., Meguro M. & Wanderley M.G.L. (1987) Flora da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais: Caracterização e Lista de espécies. Bol Botânica da Univ São Paulo 9:1–151.
Giulietti A.M. & Pirani J.R. (1988). Patterns of geographical distribution of some plant species from Espinhaço range, Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil. In: P.E. Vanzolini & W.R. Heyer (Eds). Proceedings of a workshop on Neotropical distribution patterns (pp. 39-69). Rio de Janeiro: Academia Brasileira de Ciências.
Giulietti A.M. & Pirani J.R. (1997) Espinhaço range region, Eastern Brazil. In: Davis S.D., Heywood V.H., Herrera-Macbryde O. Villa-lobos J. Hamilton A.C. (Eds) Centres of plant diversity: a guide and strategy for their conservation (pp 397–404). Cambridge: The Americas. WWF/IUCN Publications.
Guerra T., Camarota F., Castro F., Schwertner C.F. & Grazia J. (2011) Trophobiosis between ants and Eurystethus microlobatus Ruckes 1966 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) a cryptic, gregarious and subsocial stinkbug. J Nat Hist 45:1101–1117. doi: 10.1080/00222933.2011.552800
Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E.O. (1990). The Ants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 732 p.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC. (2013). In: T. F. Stocker, et al. (Eds.), The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge University Press: New York (1525 pp). doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324.
Jacobi C., Carmo F. & Vincent R. (2008) Estudo fitossociológico de uma comunidade vegetal sobre canga como subsídio para a reabilitação de áreas mineradas no Quadrilátero Ferrífero, MG. Rev. Árvore 32:345–353.
Jacobi C.M., Carmo F.F. & Campos I.C. (2011) Soaring Extinction Threats to Endemic Plants in Brazilian Metal-Rich Regions. Ambio 40:540–543. doi: 10.1007/s13280-011-0151-7
Kempf W.W. (1972) Catálogo Abreviado das formigas da Região Neotropical (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. 15:1–344.
Lach L., Parr C. & Abott K. (2010) Ant ecology. Oxford: University Press, 429 p.
Lessa L.G., Costa B.M.A., Rossoni D.M., Tavares V.C., Dias L.G. & Moraes-Jínior E.A. & Silva J.A. (2008) Mamíferos da Cadeia do Espinhaço: riqueza, ameaças e estratégias para conservação. Megadiversidade 4:1–15.
Longino J.T. & Colwell R.K. (2011) Density compensation, species composition, and richness of ants on a neotropical elevational gradient. Ecosphere 2:art29. doi: 10.1890/ES10-00200.1
Madeira J.A., Ribeiro K.T., Oliveira M.J.R. & Paiva C.L. (2008) Distribuição espacial do esforço de pesquisa biológica na Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais: subsídios ao manejo das unidades de conservação da região. Megadiversidade 4:257–271.
Miranda P., Oliveira M. & Baccaro F. (2012) Check list of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the eastern Acre, Amazon, Brazil. CheckList 8:722–730.
Pacheco R. & Vasconcelos H. (2012) Habitat diversity enhances ant diversity in a naturally heterogeneous Brazilian landscape. Biodivers. Conserv. 21:797–809. doi: 10.1007/s10531-011-0221-y.
Parr C.L., Lehmann C.E.R., Bond W.J., Hoffmann W.A. & Andersen A.N. (2014) Tropical grassy biomes: misunderstood, neglected, and under threat. Trends. Ecol. Evol. 29:205–13. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.02.004
Pearson D.L. (1994) Selecting indicator taxa for the quantitative assessment of biodiversity. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 345:75–9. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1994.0088
Rapini A., Ribeiro P., Lambert S. & Pirani J.R. (2008) A flora dos campos rupestres da Cadeia do Espinhaço. Megadiversidade 4:16–24.
Ribas C.R., Schoereder J.H., Pic M. & Soares S.M. (2003) Tree heterogeneity, resource availability, and larger scale processes regulating arboreal ant species richness. Austral Ecol. 28:305–314. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01290.x
Rodrigues M., Freitas G.H.S., Costa L.M., Dias D.F., Varela M.L.M.& Rodrigues L.C. (2011) Avifauna, Alto do Palácio, Serra do Cipó National Park, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Check List 7:151–161.
Rosumek F.B. (2009) Associação de Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) McLeish (Asteraceae) com formigas e sua relação com a mirmecofauna do solo em floresta de altitude , região central de Minas Gerais. Lundiana 9:41–47.
Sales T., Hastenreiter I., Ribeiro L. & Lopes J. (2014) Competitive Interactions in Ant Assemblage in a Rocky Field Environment: Is Being Fast and Attacking the Best Strategy? Sociobiology 61:258–264. doi: 10.13102/sociobiology.v61i3.258-264.
Ulysséa M. & Brandão C. (2013) Ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the seasonally dry tropical forest of northeastern Brazil: a compilation from field surveys in Bahia and literature. Rev. Bras. Entomol. 57:217–224.
Vasconcelos M.F. (2011) O que são campos rupestres e campos de altitude nos topos de montanha do Leste do Brasil ? Rev. Bras. Botânica 34:241–246.
Viana-Silva F.E.C. & Jacobi C.M.J. (2012) Myrmecofauna of Ironstone Outcrops : Composition and Diversity. Neotrop. Entomol. 41:263–271. doi: 10.1007/s13744-012-0045-9
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).