Dominant functional groups of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in natural pasture with and without cattle grazing on northwest Buenos Aires, Argentina
Keywords:
formicidae, grassland, diversityAbstract
Ants are used as indicators of environmental quality, as they have desirable characteristics for that aim. The objectives of this study were to compare Formicidae diversity in natural pasture with and without cattle grazing, determine functional groups present in both environments and establish their disturbance level. Manual capturing and food attractants (baits) were used for sampling. Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Sörensen Similarity Index, Berger Parker (d) dominance index and predominant functional group were calculated in this study. Overall, 4,533 ants grouped in four subfamilies and 11 genera were identified. The grazed pasture (GP) diversity (H’) was 1.97 and Solenopsis sp1 (Myrmicinae) was the dominant specie (d=0.54); in the ungrazed pasture (UP) H’ was 2.57 and Pheidole sp. (Myrmicinae) the dominant specie (d=0.46). In the UP the Formicidae found was distributed in four functional groups, being the majority groups Generalized Myrmicinae (46.57%) and Hot Climate Specialists (40.79%); while in the GP the Hot Climate Specialists relative abundance grew (52.76%) compared to Generalized Myrmicinae (35.5%) and other three functional groups were identified, that were not founded in UP (Dominant Dolichoderinae, Cryptic and Subordinate Camponotini). It can be concluded that the Hot Climate Specialists and Generalized Myrmicinae predominance indicates that those environments are under intermediate stress and moderately high disturbance. The use of ant functional groups offers more information than the diversity index analysis.
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