Ant Fauna in Megadiverse Mountains: a Checklist for the Rocky Grasslands
| Autor: | Fernanda Vieira da Costa, Rayana Mello, Tate C. Lana, Frederico de Siqueira Neves |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category biology campos rupestres Ecology Biodiversity biology.organism_classification Grassland Azteca Ant checklist Leptogenys altitudinal gradient Pheidole QL1-991 Insect Science Species richness QH1-278.5 Endemism Natural history (General) Zoology Espinhaço Mountains QH540-549.5 Global biodiversity |
| Zdroj: | Sociobiology, Vol 62, Iss 2 (2015) |
| ISSN: | 2447-8067 0361-6525 |
| Popis: | The rocky grasslands, environments locally known as campos rupestres , occur mainly along the Espinhaco Mountains and are considered local centers of biodiversity and endemism in Brazil. However, knowledge of ant species richness (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in this kind of environment is still poor. Aiming at filling this gap, we compiled information from empirical studies and literature records. We found a total of 288 species of 53 genera and eight subfamilies recorded in rocky grasslands. Myrmicinae and Formicinae were the most representative subfamilies, with 53% and 18% of the total species richness, respectively. The genera with the largest number of species were Pheidole (41) and Camponotus (40). This large number of ant species recorded for the rocky grasslands surpasses those found in other studies conducted in several different places. Ant species richness decreased with altitude; most species occur below 800 m a.s.l. (171), and only a few species occur above1600 m a.s.l. (17). Some genera occur only at a specific altitude (e.g., Azteca and Dolichoderus at 800/900 m a.s.l.; Leptogenys and Labidus at 1400 m a.s.l.), which points out to the potential use of ants as biological indicators. Our results suggest that the rocky grassland s favor high ant diversity. The patterns of ant richness associated with the altitude gradient reinforce the idea of considering the rocky grasslands as priority areas for biological conservation. Moreover, we observed a lack of records on the occurrence of most ant species considered in the present study (93%), which shows that Brazilian myrmecologists need to invest more in taxonomy, management, and data sharing. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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