Respostas da comunidade de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) ao ecótone eucalipto-floresta secundária em três paisagens de Minas Gerais

Abstract

The borders or ecotones have deep effects upon the dynamics of species and communities in man-modified landscapes. With the amplification of rates of forest clearing and patching, many species are exposed to these border habitats. The highest exposition to borders influences the individual’s movement through the landscape, the interaction among species, the trophic structure of the community and the flows of resources among the habitats, modifying both the ecological dynamics and processes in spatial and temporal scale. Studies on the ants responses to border have been showing controversial and inconsistent results relative to the effect of border distance in species richness, abundance and composition. In the present study, the litter ant community did not respond the border effect between eucalyptus and native forest. However, the richness and composition of ants were affected both by ecosystem type (eucalyptus or forest) and landscape quality (forest/eucalyptus proportion). The ant richness was higher in the native forest when compared with eucalyptus monoculture. Nevertheless, the eucalyptus monocultures increment the species diversity in the landscape. Further studies are necessary to understand the influence of the border upon biodiversity of ants in order to clarify and interpret the range of individual species responses in relation to border environments.