Abstract

LUTINSKI, Junir Antonio; LUTINSKI, Cladis Juliana; IOP, Samanta  and  MELLO GARCIA, Flávio Roberto. Evaluation of an ant sampling protocol (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in three modified environments located inside an austral Atlantic Forest area of Brazil. Ecol. austral [online]. 2013, vol.23, n.1, pp.37-43. ISSN 1667-782X.

This study evaluated the efficiency as a tool for ant survey of a sampling protocol composed of six methods, and examined the role of environmental features on the efficiency of methods complementarity . We applied them in three environments (pine, eucalyptus and native forest) in the National Forest of Chapecó and the effect of the characteristics of these environments on methods complementarity. The sampling methods were pitfall traps, two types of bait (sardines and glucose), sweep net, entomological umbrella and Malaise trap. The protocol efficiency of the protocol in the ant inventory was evaluated based on rarefaction curves, richness estimators and records of occurrence of ants. The protocol captured the greatest richness on native forest environment (S = 95), followed by the eucalyptus plantation (S = 81) and pine forest (S=78). Pitfall trap, sardine baits, Malaise trap and sweep net contributed with unique records in the three environments, while the glucose baits contributed with unique records in the eucalyptus plantation and native forest, and entomological umbrella only in eucalyptus environment. The results highlighted the importance of using complementary techniques for the ant fauna inventory irrespective of the environment complexity. Contrary to our prediction, the greater environmental complexity of the native forest with respect to the other environments was not associated to lower efficiency of using single technique.

Keywords : Bait; Composition; Conservation planning; Diversity; Richness.

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