Contrasting Effects of Fire on Arboreal and Ground‐Dwelling Ant Communities of a Neotropical Savanna

Frizzo, Tiago L. M.; Campos, Ricardo I.; Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.

doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00797.x

Cited by 64 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Research on ant community responses to the impact of natural or prescription fire suggests that ants are resilient and resistant to vegetation burning (Knoechelmann & Morais, 2008;Andersen et al, 2012;Frizzo et al, 2012;Alves-Silva & Del-Claro, 2013). However, to our knowledge no study has taken into consideration ant communities inhabiting ecosystems such as veredas that are sensitive and with low resilience to the fire.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Although soil fauna in cerrado is mostly hypogeal (Coutinho, 1978;Castanheira de Morais & Benson, 1988), and thus well protected from mild fires, the direct effect of fire on the arboreal fauna, or the indirect effect on soil fauna due to litter destruction, has hardly been studied. Ants are a taxonomic assemblage that exhibits substantial responses to impacts such as fire (Philpott et al, 2010) and have also been extensively studied in the cerrado, but their responses to fire in terms of abundance and species composition are minimally understood (Frizzo et al, 2007;Frizzo et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Fire on Ant Assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado in Areas containing Vereda Wetlands

Milanez¹,

Ribeiro²,

Castro³

et al. 2015

Sociobiology

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Cerrado is a biome whose evolution is intimately influenced by constant fire events. Although many species are capable of dealing with this predictable impact, many others may be negatively affected, resulting in community changes after fire. Using ants as bioindicators of changes in biodiversity and environmental conditions, this study evaluated the effects of fire in two Cerrado vegetation types: "cerrado" sensu stricto, a xeric savanna, and wetland "veredas", a mesic vegetation on floodable soils, where water concentrates and ultimately flows towards rivers. We examined the effects of fire on both habitats in two independent sites, but with special consideration to the wetlands, which are not fully adapted to fire. Ant sampling was conducted twice before and twice after a fire event, using 288 baits and 416 pitfall traps (soil and arboreal), and 16 hand collections along three random replicate transects per area. Ant species richness and abundance were resilient to fire, and exhibited a remarkably consistent seasonal variation at unburned and burned sites. On the other hand, the fire markedly changed the ant species composition. In the wetlands, the fire spread underground due to the high concentration of peat. The impact on ant assemblages was substantial and visually perceptible for some species like Camponotus rufipes, which suffered a considerable reduction in the number of individuals after fire in this habitat. In the cerrado, a similar result was observed for Crematogaster nr. obscurata, which disappeared after fire. The wetland vegetation having little adaptation to fire, plus low resilience in the ant community resulted in a severely changed fauna, both in guild predominance and species composition, and return to an original state is uncertain.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Fire on Ant Assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado in Areas containing Vereda Wetlands

Milanez¹,

Ribeiro²,

Castro³

et al. 2015

Sociobiology

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“…The species richness of arboreal ants sampled in this study (n = 37) can be considered low compared to other studies done in Cerrado or Atlantic Forest, using a similar sampling method. In fragments of Atlantic Forest, for example, species richness may vary from 69 to 153 (Resende et al, 2013;Vasconcelos et al, 2014), whereas in areas of Brazilian savanna (Cerrado) species richness of arboreal ants ranges from 37 to 95 (Ribas et al, 2003;Frizzo et al, 2012). However, for Tropical Dry Forests areas, such as Caatinga, the number of arboreal ants sampled is generally low, ranging from 24 to a maximum of 43 species (Neves et al, 2010c;Neves et al, 2013;Silva et al, 2014), indicating that Caatinga environments, may naturally harbor a smaller ant richness when compared to other environments, probably due to habitat limitations such as drastic variation in resources and conditions during the season and between years (Quesada et al, 2009).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition and Richness of Arboreal ants in Fragments of Brazilian Caatinga: Effects of Secondary Succession

et al. 2016

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Ecological succession is a complex processes involving changes in the structure of plant community and it is an important factor determining the structure of arboreal ants assemblages, but little is known about the effects of succession on ant assemblages in regions of Tropical Dry Forests (TDFs), such as the Brazilian Caatinga. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ecological succession on the richness and species composition of arboreal ants in fragments of Caatinga, testing the following hypothesis: i) the richness of arboreal ants increases along a gradient of forest succession, in response to tree richness and/or density; ii) species composition of arboreal ants differs among stages of forest succession due to differences in vegetation structure in theses stages. This study was conducted in 15 plots distributed in three areas with different stages of secondary succession (early, intermediate and late). Tree density and richness were used as surrogate of vegetation structure. Ants were sampled using the technique of beating the foliage and baited pitfall traps, where five trees were sampled per plot, totaling 75 individual trees sampled. We sampled 37 species of ants, distributed in 16 genera and five subfamilies. Ant richness differed among stages of succession and seasons, with higher number of species in the late succession and rainy period, also increasing with tree richness and density. Besides, there was a distinct composition of ant species among stages of succession and seasons. Results obtained in this study reinforce the importance of using ants as environmental bioindicators, since the sensitivity to environmental variations of this group enables us to differentiate early and late successional stages of forest succession in Caatinga environment.

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“…Adult plants can reach up to 3 m in height, but many individuals in the Cerrado occur as shrubs (1-1.5 m tall), principally in areas where fires are common, such as at the park where the study was carried out (Lopes et al 2009;Frizzo et al 2012). Bauhinia brevipes has green and smooth margined subcoriaceous leaves that may reach up to 9 cm in length and 7 cm in width.…”

Section: Plant Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leaf phenotypic variation and developmental instability in relation to different light regimes

2016

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For pioneer plants, shaded habitats represent a stressful condition, where sunlight exposure is below the optimum level and so leaves expand in order to intercept a greater amount of light. We investigated changes in both phenotypic variation and stress of Bauhinia brevipes in sunny and shaded microhabitats. Leaf area was used as a measure of phenotypic variation, whereas leaf asymmetry (diff erence between right and left sides of leaves), was used as a measure of stress. We hypothesized an increase in leaf area and stress in shaded locations, which might indicate that B. brevipes was compensating for low light absorption, and elevated levels of stress, respectively. Plants in the sun fi tted a fl uctuating asymmetry pattern (normal distribution of right minus left sides), while shaded plants were clearly antisymmetric (bimodal distribution of leaf side diff erences). Leaf asymmetry and area were 5% and 26.8% higher in plants in the shade compared to plants in the sun, respectively. Th ese results were expected since B. brevipes is found predominantly in open areas; so sunlight exposure is important for its development. Th e presence of antisymmetry is rare in studies of developmental instability, and here it might indicate higher stress compared to plants with fl uctuating asymmetry.

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Contrasting Effects of Fire on Arboreal and Ground‐Dwelling Ant Communities of a Neotropical Savanna

Cited by 64 publications

References 39 publications

Effect of Fire on Ant Assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado in Areas containing Vereda Wetlands

Effect of Fire on Ant Assemblages in Brazilian Cerrado in Areas containing Vereda Wetlands

Composition and Richness of Arboreal ants in Fragments of Brazilian Caatinga: Effects of Secondary Succession

Leaf phenotypic variation and developmental instability in relation to different light regimes

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