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Can ants be used as indicators of environmental impacts caused by arsenic?

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Abstract

We evaluated ants as bioindicators of environmental impacts caused by arsenic residuals in the soil. We tested the hypotheses that the presence of arsenic in the soil affects: (1) estimates of resources and habitat condition for arboreal and epigaeic ants; (2) species richness of arboreal and epigaeic ants and (3) arboreal and epigaeic ant species composition. Ants were sampled at an inactivated raticide factory in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, Brasil, which used arsenic as one of its main byproducts. The following environmental variables were measured: bioavailable arsenic concentration in the soil, the number and density of tree species, plant cover and leaf litter depth. The species richness of arboreal ants decreased with increased bioavailable arsenic concentration whilst epigaeic ants increased with arsenic. Arboreal ants were positively related to the number of tree species, which in turn were negatively affected by arsenic. We verified which ants are good bioindicators of arsenic. Independent verification of the influence of arsenic on background environmental variables was fundamental in defining responses of ant communities, as well as in identifying the most effective pathways for the recovery of biological communities in degraded areas.

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Acknowledgments

This study is resulted from the research project: CRA—270/07—“Utilização de formigas como bioindicadoras de impacto ambiental e de sua recuperação em Cerrado e em Mata Atlântica”. We are grateful to AngloGold Ashanti South America for allowing the collections, to Júlio N.C. Louzada for his assistance with some statistical analyses, to Toby A. Gardner for his valuable suggestions in the English expression and to anonymous referees for its critical reading. We are also grateful for Rodrigo M. Feitosa, who checked identification of ant species. The authors received grants and funding from FAPEMIG, CAPES and CNPq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-000, Brazil

    Carla R. Ribas & José H. Schoereder

  2. Departamento de Entomologia—Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-000, Brazil

    Ricardo R. C. Solar, Fernando A. Schmidt & Clarisse L. Valentim

  3. Instituto Superior de Educação de Divinópolis, Fundação Educacional de Divinópolis, Av. Paraná, 3001, Jardim Belvedere, Divinópolis, MG, 35501-170, Brazil

    Renata B. F. Campos

  4. Setor de Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, 37200-000, Brazil

    Carla R. Ribas

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  1. Carla R. Ribas
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  2. Ricardo R. C. Solar
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  3. Renata B. F. Campos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carla R. Ribas.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 1.

Table 1 Frequency of occurrence of ant species captured in two microhabitats (epigaeic and arboreal) along twenty-seven sampling points at Nova Lima—MG
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Ribas, C.R., Solar, R.R.C., Campos, R.B.F. et al. Can ants be used as indicators of environmental impacts caused by arsenic?. J Insect Conserv 16, 413–421 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9427-2

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