Abstract. Land-use changes such as conversion of semi-natural grasslands to agriculture, silviculture, or highintensity pastures affect biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services. However, which ecosystem functions are affected when highly diverse grasslands are converted remains largely unknown. As a model system, we studied 80 grasslands in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, comprising exceptionally diverse permanent grasslands that are traditionally managed with burning of accumulated biomass and moderate grazing, and four additional grassland types with different present or historical management: permanent grasslands with reduced or increased current management intensity and secondary grasslands after past agricultural or silvicultural use. We measured ten ecosystem functions covering all major below-and aboveground ecosystem components and the processes that link them, using the novel rapid ecosystem function assessment approach. Ecosystem functions included primary and secondary production, and species interactions, that is, herbivory, pollination, predation, seed dispersal, and decomposition. Ecosystem functions differed significantly among grassland types, most distinctly between permanent and secondary grasslands. Historical land-use changes to agriculture and silviculture led to altered ecosystem functions even after reconversion to grassland, including lower primary and secondary production, lower decomposition, lower seed dispersal capabilities, and higher invertebrate herbivory. Current management practices explained additional variation in some ecosystem functions, including strong positive effects of intensified management on secondary production. Other ecosystem functions such as pollination and predation were not affected. The findings suggest that conversion of grasslands to more intensive land-use types has long-lasting consequences for some ecosystem functions, with effects persisting even many years after reconversion, resulting in changes in the ecosystem services provided by these grasslands.
ABSTRACT. Soil invertebrate distribution in Araucaria forest, grassland and edge habitats was studied in both disturbed and undisturbed areas in southern Brazil. Mean-density and taxa compositions were verified. Invertebrate densities differed between grassland and the other two habitats in the undisturbed area but not across the disturbed one. At the disturbed area taxa differed between the grassland and the other two habitats. The undisturbed area, on the other hand, presented taxa differences only between the grassland and the forest habitats. Acari, Arachnida and Collembola were the most sensitive taxa for detecting differences across habitats in both areas. At the disturbed area, these taxa presented densities lowering from the forest to the grassland. At the undisturbed area the same taxa increased from the forest to the grassland. Coleoptera and Formicidae (Insecta) presented no difference between habitats at the studied taxonomic level.
KEYWORDS.Araucaria forest, forest edge, grasslands, Acari, Collembola.RESUMO. Invertebrados de solo no mosaico floresta com Araucaria -campos no sul do Brasil: diferenças entre áreas impactadas e não impactadas. A distribuição dos invertebrados de solo entre os em ambientes de floresta com Araucaria, borda-demata e campo, foi analisada em duas áreas no sul do Brasil: uma reserva ecológica e uma propriedade agrícola. A densidade média e a composição dos principais taxa foram verificadas. A densidade total de invertebrados diferiu entre o campo e os outros dois hábitats na área protegida, mas não na fazenda. A composição dos taxa diferiu entre o hábitat de campo e os outros dois habitats na fazenda, e entre o campo e a mata com Araucaria na área protegida. Acari, Arachnida e Collembola foram os grupos que mais apresentaram diferenças entre os diferentes habitats. Na área alterada (fazenda), esses grupos apresentaram diminuição na densidade na direção da floresta com Araucária para o campo, enquanto que na área protegida suas densidades foram maiores no campo do que na floresta com Araucária. Coleoptera e Formicidae (Insecta) não apresentaram diferenças significativas no nível taxonômico estudado.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/198050988459No presente estudo é apresentado o registro da ocorrência de Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger 1815) em uma área de campo úmido adjacente a faixa de mata ciliar do rio Ibicuí, estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. A espécie foi encontrada através do uso de armadilhas fotográficas e da procura de vestígios em transecções pré-estabelecidas na área, como parte de um programa de monitoramento ambiental de um projeto silvicultural.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.