Diversity and Guilds of Ants in Different Land-Use Systems in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the ant fauna in three different land-use systems: pasture, eucalyptus plantation and secondary forest, in southeastern Brazil. The ant fauna was collected with standardized pitfall traps. Forty-seven ant species were collected, belonging to 24 genera and six subfamilies. The total ant species richness was significantly higher in secondary forest (29 species) and eucalyptus plantation (25 species) when compared to the pasture (17 species), with no significant difference between the secondary forest and eucalyptus plantation. The species composition differed significantly between the three land-use systems. The frequency distributions of ant guilds in eucalyptus plantation and secondary forest differed significantly from the frequency in the pasture. The results demonstrated the importance of natural forests for the conservation of biological diversity of the Atlantic Forest, but they also indicated that eucalyptus plantations, with native understory plants, can harbor considerable ant diversity.

摘要 本研究旨在评估巴西东南部三种不同土地利用系统中的蚂蚁区系：牧场、桉树人工林与次生林。研究采用标准化巴氏诱捕器（pitfall traps）采集蚂蚁样本，共记录到47种蚂蚁，隶属于24属、6亚科。相较于牧场（17种），次生林（29种）与桉树人工林（25种）的蚂蚁物种丰富度显著更高，且次生林与桉树人工林的物种丰富度无显著差异。三种土地利用系统间的蚂蚁物种组成存在显著差异。桉树人工林与次生林中的蚂蚁功能群（ant guilds）频率分布，与牧场中的频率分布存在显著差异。本研究结果表明，天然林对大西洋森林（Atlantic Forest）的生物多样性保护具有重要意义，同时也证实，搭配本土林下植被的桉树人工林可维持相当可观的蚂蚁多样性。