Structure and composition of Edaphic arthropod community and its use as bioindicators of environmental disturbance

Abstract

We analyzed arthropod community structure and composition among different anthropogenic systems. The study was conducted in areas of secondary forest (control system), Eucalyptus plantation and pasture, where we sampled arthropods using pitfall traps. The systems did not differ in mean richness and mean abundance of arthropods, however, eucalyptus presented the highest total richness. The systems supported different arthropod communities in relation to structure and species composition. Pasture was the most simplified and different system in comparison to the others, probably because it is more open and presents low complexity. Our results demonstrate that different anthropogenic systems exhibit communities that reflect its characteristics, corroborating the evidence that human impacts are capable of changing community composition and structure. Our study serves to understand arthropod response in face of environmental disturbance, selecting indicator morphospecies and orders of arthropods for different anthropogenic systems and providing valid information for the development of conservation strategies.