Dataset of long-term monitoring of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the influence areas of a hydroelectric power plant on the Madeira River in the Amazon Basin

Abstract

BackgroundBiodiversity loss is accelerating rapidly in response to increasing human influence on the Earth’s natural ecosystems. One way to overcome this problem is by focusing on places of human interest and monitoring the changes and impacts on the biodiversity. This study was conducted at six sites within the influence area of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant in the margins of the Madeira River in Rondônia State. The sites cover a latitudinal gradient of approximately 100 km in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. The sampling design included six sampling modules with six plots (transects) each, totaling 30 sampling plots. The transects were distributed with 0 km, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km, 3 km and 4 km, measured perpendicularly from the river margin towards the interior of the forest. For sampling the ground-dwelling ants, the study used the ALL (ants of the leaf litter) protocol, which is standardized globally in the inventories of ant fauna. For the purpose of impact indicators, the first two campaigns (September 2011 to November 2011) were carried out in the pre-filling period, while campaigns 3 to 10 (February 2012 to November 2014) were carried out during and after the filling of the hydroelectric reservoir. A total of 253 events with a total of 9,165 occurrences were accounted during the monitoring. The ants were distributed in 10 subfamilies, 68 genera and 324 species/morphospecies. The impact on ant biodiversity during the periods before and after filling was measured by ecological indicators and by the presence and absence of some species/morphospecies. This is the first study, as far as we know, including taxonomic and ecological treatment to monitor the impact of a hydroelectric power plant on ant fauna.New informationUntil recently, most studies conducted on hydroelectric plants, located in the Amazon Basin, were carried out after the implementation of dams in order to assess their impacts on the environment and biodiversity (Benchimol and Peres 2015, Latrubesse et al. 2017, Sá-Oliveira et al. 2015). Recent studies on dam impacts have begun to be conducted prior to dam implementation (e.g. Bobrowiec and Tavares 2017, Fraga et al. 2014, Moser et al. 2014), thus providing a better overview of the impact and a better assessment of its magnitude.

Evaluation of sampling techniques and influence of environmental variables on ants in forest fragments in an oil extraction area in the Amazon

“…However, some change has occurred in recent times and longterm inventories on biodiversity have included ants in their focus groups (e.g. Fernandes & Souza, 2018).…”

New Records of Syscia Roger, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae) in South America

“…In the Amazon, the level of the water table is correlated with changes in the abundance, richness, and composition of ground-dwelling ants (Baccaro et al 2013). Due to the rise in the water level of the river, the groundwater level also rose, perhaps forcing normally subterranean or cryptic species to the surface (Fernandes et al 2015, Fernandes & Souza 2018. Following the risen of the river water, no additional specimens of Syscia were encountered in the same sites.…”

“…In 2016, Souza et al recorded the species S. augustae (Wheeler, 1902) and N. splendens (Borgmeier, 1957) (both species formerly belonged to Cerapachys) to Rondônia state (Brazil). After the generic revision done by Borowiec (2016), the presence of S. augustae was also confirmed in South America, in Rondônia state (Fernandes & Souza 2018). All those records were not considered by Borowiec (2016) in the recent revision, which emphasized the distribution of Syscia as present or likely present up to Antioquia (Colombia), although literature existed to confirm the distribution in other sites in South America.…”

“…Syscia specimens were collected during a long-term monitoring program in the areas influenced by the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant along the margins of the Madeira River, Rondônia state. The sites cover approximately 100 km of latitudinal gradient in the Brazilian Amazon Basin (Fernandes & Souza 2018). The sampling of ground-dwelling ants was based on the ALL (Ants of the Leaf Litter) protocol, which is globally standardized for inventories of ant fauna in litter (Bestelmeyer et al 2000).…”

Ants response to mining prospection disturbances across vegetation zones in tropical mountain chains of Mount Nimba, Guinea, West Africa

“…Among insects, ants are a diverse and highly abundant insect group which plays an important functional role in tropical ecosystems (Ilboudo-Tapsoba et al, 2011;Andersen, 2019). In this sense, they are widely used as bioindicators in monitoring and rehabilitation programs (Fernandes and Souza, 2018), and reflect the trend that the conservational status of an area may determine the number and identity of species inhabiting it (Santiago et al, 2018). Although, these insects have been successfully used as bioindicators of mine site rehabilitation (Jamison et al, 2016), little studies have documented their predictive abilities.…”