Communities of Ants (Hymenoptera - Formicidae) i Different Atlantic Rain Forest Phytophysionomies

摘要

This study aimed to analyse ant communities in different physiognomies of the Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia, at various degrees of anthropic alterations. It was conducted at the Michelin Ecologic Preservation Area at Itubera, Bahia. Ant communities associated with three physiognomies were analysed using litter sifting with Winkler extraction and pitfall trapping: a preserved forest fragment, a capoeira' fragment, and a cocoa-rubber agro-forestry system. The data were submitted to Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) for physiognomy ordination according to fauna composition. The observed and the expected richness of species were provided by the rarefaction curve (Mao Tau) and the first-order Jackknife estimators calculated through the EstimateS program. The Morisita similarity index was calculated using the PAST program. According to the analyses performed, the preserved forest fragment and the 'capoeira fragment were more homogeneous than the cocoa-rubber agro-forestry system. Our results provide information for the taxonomic and ecological knowledge of ant species living in forest remnants of the Atlantic Forest biome in southern Bahia.