Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of urban savannah fragments and their characteristics for the conservation of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in central Brazil

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Community Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ants are present in almost all terrestrial environments and are considered indicators of environmental quality. Areas such as the Brazilian savannah have been suffering from intense degradation in the last decades. This work aims to describe the composition of the ant community in Cerrado fragments in urban areas and test how the size and type of fragment affect this composition. The study was carried out in four Cerrado fragments located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazilian Center-West: two state parks and two private natural heritage reserves. The collections were carried out using 675 pitfall traps for 72 h, and environmental variables were measured in each plot. Overall, 84 ant species were recorded, including five new species for the state. There was a significant difference in species richness and community composition between fragments, and environmental variables significantly affected community composition. Variation in habitat structure may have been due to vertical stratification of the vegetation, elements of understory formation, and the contribution of leaf litter formation. Local, regional, and landscape aspects are significant for the maintenance of local ant biodiversity in cities. However, variation and quality of habitat within the fragments are also preponderant factors in this regard.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and material

All data are presented.

References

  • Agosti, D., & Alonso, L. E. (2000). The ALL protocol: A standard protocol for the collection of ground-dwelling ants. In D. Agosti, J. Majer, E. Alonso, & T. R. Schultz (Eds.), Ants: Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity (pp. 204–206). Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonialli-Junior, W. F., Lima, L. D., & Pereira, M. C. (2017). Formigas em ambientes urbanos no Centro-Oeste do Brasil. In O. C. Bueno, A. E. C. Campos, & M. S. C. Morini (Eds.), Formigas em ambientes urbanos no Brasil (1st ed., pp. 499–522). Bauru: Canal 6 Editora.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aranda, R., & Graciolli, G. (2015). Spatial–temporal distribution of the Hymenoptera in the Brazilian savannah and the effects of habitat heterogeneity on these patterns. Journal of Insect Conservation, 19(6), 1173–1187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9832-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baccaro, F. B., Feitosa, R. M., Fernández, F., Fernandes, I. O., Izzo, T. J., Souza, J. L. P., & Solar, R. R. C. (2015). Guia para os gêneros de formigas do Brasil (p. 386). Manaus: Editora INPA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bestelmeyer, B. T., Agosti, D., Alonso, L. E., Brandão, C. R. F., Brown, W. L., Jr., Delabie, J. H., & Silvestre, R. (2000). Field techniques for the study of ground-dwelling ants: An overview, description, and evaluation. In D. Agosti, J. D. Majer, L. E. Alonso, & T. R. Schultz (Eds.), Ants: Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity (pp. 122–144). Smithsonian Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bueno, O. C., Campos, A. E. C., & Morini, M. S. C. (2017). Formigas em ambientes urbanos no Brasil. Canal 6 Editora, ISBN: 978-85-7917-456-8.

  • Camacho, G. P., & Vasconcelos, H. L. (2015). Ants of the Panga ecological station, a Cerrado reserve in central Brazil. Sociobiology, 62(2), 281–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, F. M. V., Júnior, P. D. M., & Ferreira, L. G. (2009). The Cerrado into-pieces: Habitat fragmentation as a function of landscape use in the savannahs of central Brazil. Biological Conservation, 142, 1392–1403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.01.031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, K. M., Fisher, B. L., & LeBuhn, G. (2008). The influence of urban park characteristics on ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) communities. Urban Ecosystems, 11(3), 317–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFries, R., Asner, G. P., Barford, C., Bonan, G., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., Coe, M. T., Daily, G. C., Gibbs, H. K., Helkowski, J. H., Holloway, T., Howard, E. A., Kucharik, C. J., Monfreda, C., Patz, J. A., Prentice, I. C., Ramankutty, N., & Snyder, P. K. (2005). Global consequences of land use. Science, 309, 570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diehl-Fleig, E. (2006). Formigas invasoras: O caso da formiga argentina Linepithema humile (Mayr 1868). Acta Biologica Leopondensia, 28(1), 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Divieso, R., Rorato, A., Feitosa, R. M., Meyer, A. L., & Pie, M. R. (2020). How to prioritize areas for new ant surveys? Integrating historical data on species occurrence records and habitat loss. Journal of Insect Conservation, 24(6), 901–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L. (2003). Effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 34(1), 487–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L. (2019). Habitat fragmentation: A long and tangled tale. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 28(1), 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L., Arroyo-Rodríguez, V., Bennett, J. R., Boucher-Lalonde, V., Cazetta, E., Currie Felix Eigenbrod, D. J., Ford, A. T., Harrison, S. P., Jaeger, J. A. G., Koper, N., Martin, A. E., Martin, J.-L., Metzger, J. P., Morrison, P., Rhodes, J. R., Saunders, D. A., Simberloff, D., Smith, A. C., Tischendorf, L., … Watling, J. I. (2019). Is habitat fragmentation bad for biodiversity? Biological Conservation, 230(179), 186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibb, H., & Hochuli, D. F. (2002). Habitat fragmentation in an urban environment: Large and small fragments support different arthropod assemblages. Biological Conservation, 106(1), 91–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzmán-Mendoza, R., Castaño-Meneses, G., & Nuñez-Palenius, H. G. (2016). The diversity of ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their connections with other arthropods from three temperate forests of Central Mexico. Revista De Biologia Tropical, 64(2), 571–585. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v64i2.18979

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, M., Cosson, J. F., & Pons, J. M. (2007). Abundance may be a misleading indicator of fragmentation-sensitivity: The case of fig-eating bats. Biological Conservation, 139, 462–467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2007.06.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. D. (2002). Landscape structure, habitat fragmentation, and the ecology of insects. Agriculture and Forest Entomology, 4, 159–166. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-9563.2002.00152.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IMASUL (2009). Plano de Manejo–Parque Estadual Matas do Segredo. URL: http://www.servicos.ms.gov.br/imasuldownloads/PlanosdeManejo/planomanejoPEMS.pdf.

  • IMASUL (2011). Plano de manejo do Parque Estadual do Prosa. URL: http://www.imasul.ms.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/sites/74/2015/06/Plano-de-Manejo-Parque-Estadual-do-Prosa.pdf.

  • Iop, S., Caldart, V. M., Lutinski, J. A., & Gracia, F. R. M. (2009). Formigas urbanas da cidade de Xanxerê, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Biotemas, 22, 55–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez-Carmona, F., Carpintero, S., & Reyes-López, J. L. (2020). Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as surrogates for epigeic arthropods in Northern Andalusian ‘dehesas’(Spain). Sociobiology, 67(2), 201–212. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v67i2.4895

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Júnior, E. J. B., Rocha, E. C., Jesus, F. G., Oliveira, M. A., & Araújo, M. S. (2020). Dry forest fragmentation in Brazilian Cerrado and its effects on communities of ground foraging ants. The Florida Entomologist, 103(3), 384–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klink, C. A., & Machado, R. B. (2005). Conservation of the Brazilian Cerrado. Conservation Biology, 19(3), 707–713. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00702.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koch, E. B., Nascimento, I. C., Majer, J. D., & Delabie, J. H. (2021). Seeking surrogates for taxonomic and functional evaluations of leaf-litter ant faunas. Ecological Indicators, 122, 107305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lange, D., Vilela, A. A., Erdogmus, G. D., Barbosa, A. B., Costa, S. C., & Stefani, V. (2015). Temporal dynamic of foraging of epigeic ants in an urban forest fragment. Bioscince Journal, 31, 1501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leal, I. R. (2003). Dispersão de sementes por formigas na caatinga. In I. L. Leal, M. Tabarelli, & J. M. C. Silva (Eds.), Ecologia e conservação da caatinga (pp. 593–624). Universitária da UFPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, K. E., & Foster, R. C. (1991). Soil fauna and soil structure. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 29, 745–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutinski, J. A., Lopes, B. C., & Morais, A. B. B. (2013). Urban ant diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in ten cities of southern Brazil. Biota Neotropica, 13, 332–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado, R. B., Neto, M. G. P., Pereira, P. G. P., Caldas, E. F., Gonçalves, D. A., Santos, N. S., & Steininger, M. (2004). Estimativas de perda da área do Cerrado brasileiro. Relatório técnico. Conservação Internacional, Brasília, DF, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-42302007000600013.

  • Majer, J. D., Delabie, J. H. C., & McKenzie, N. L. (1997). Ant litter fauna of forest, forest edges and adjacent grassland in the Atlantic rain forest region of Bahia Brazil. Insectes Sociaux, 44(3), 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s000400050046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzoni-Viveiros, S. C., & Trufem, S. F. B. (2004). Efeitos da poluição aérea e edáfica no sistema radicular de Tibouchina pulchra Cogn. (Melastomataceae) em área de mata Atlântica: Associações micorrízicas e morfologia. Revista Brasileira De Botanica, 27, 337–348.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Melo, T. S., Peres, M. C. L., Chavari, J. L., Brescovit, A. D., & Delabie, J. H. C. (2014). Ants (Formicidae) and spiders (Araneae) listed from the metropolitan region of Salvador, Brazil. Check List, 10, 355–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menke, S. B., Guénard, B., Sexton, J. O., et al. (2011). Urban areas may serve as habitat and corridors for dry-adapted, heat tolerant species; an example from ants. Urban Ecosystems, 14, 135–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0150-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Da Fonseca, G. A., & Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403(6772), 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, J., Mooney, K., & Lach, L. (2010). Ants as mutualists. In L. Lach, C. L. Parr, & K. L. Abbott (Eds.), Ant ecology (pp. 97–114). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neves, F. S., Queiroz-Dantas, K. S., Rocha, W. D., & Delabie, J. H. C. (2013). Ants of three adjacent habitats of a transition region between the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes: The effects of heterogeneity and variation in canopy cover. Neotropical Entomology, 42(3), 258–268.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pacheco, R., & Vasconcelos, H. L. (2007). Invertebrate conservation in urban areas: Ants in the Brazilian Cerrado. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81(3), 193–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2006.11.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petchey, O. L., & Gaston, K. J. (2006). Functional diversity: Back to basics and looking forward. Ecology Letters, 9, 741–758.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philpott, S. M., & Armbrecht, I. (2006). Biodiversity in tropical agroforests and the ecological role of ants and ant diversity in predatory function. Ecological Entomology, 31, 369–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.2006.00793.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratter, J. A., Ribeiro, J. F., & Bridgewater, S. (1997). The Brazilian Cerrado vegetation and threats to its biodiversity. Annals of Botany, 80, 223–230. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbo.1997.0469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribas, C. R., Solar, R. R. C., Campos, R. B. F., Schmidt, F. A., Valentim, C. L., & Schoereder, J. H. (2012). Can ants be used as indicators of environmental impacts caused by arsenic? Journal of Insect Conservation, 16, 413–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sano, E. E., Rodrigues, A. A., Martins, E. S., Bettiol, G. M., Bustamante, M. M., Bezerra, A. S., et al. (2019). Cerrado ecoregions: A spatial framework to assess and prioritize Brazilian savannah environmental diversity for conservation. Journal of Environmental Management, 232, 818–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, M. N. (2016). Research on urban ants: Approaches and gaps. Insectes Sociaux, 63(3), 359–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, M. S., Louzada, J. N., Dias, N., Zanetti, R., Delabie, J. H., & Nascimento, I. C. (2006). Riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) da serapilheira em fragmentos de floresta semidecídua da Mata Atlântica na região do Alto do Rio Grande, MG Brasil. Iheringia Série Zoologia, 96(1), 95–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos-Silva, L., Vicente, R., & Feitosa, R. M. (2016). Ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of forest fragments and urban areas in a Meridional Amazonian landscape. Check List., 12(3), 1885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva, J. M. C., & Bates, J. M. (2002). Biogeographic patterns and conservation in the South American Brazilian savannah: A tropical savannah hotspot. BioScience, 52, 225–233. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, A., Gerstner, K., & Kreft, H. (2014). Environmental heterogeneity as a universal driver of species richness across taxa, biomes and spatial scales. Ecology Letters, 17(7), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suguituru, S. S., Morini, M. S. C., Feitosa, R. M., & Silva, R. R. (2015). Formigas Do Alto Tietê. Bauru: Canal, 6, 450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tibcherani, M., Aranda, R., & Mello, R. L. (2020). Time to go home: The temporal threshold in the regeneration of the ant community in the Brazilian savannah. Applied Soil Ecology, 150, 103451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tolmasquim, M. T. (2001). Estrutura conceitual para a elaboração de indicadores de sustentabilidade ambiental para o Brasil. In I. E. G. Garay & F. S. Dias Braulio (Eds.), Conservação da Biodiversidade em ecossistemas tropicais: Avanços conceituais e revisão de novas metodologias de avaliação e monitoramento (pp. 68–75). Petrópolis: Editora Vozes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Udy, K., Fritsch, M., Meyer, K. M., Grass, I., Hanss, S., Hartig, F., Kneib, T., Kreft, H., Kukunda, C. B., GPe’er, Reininghaus, H., Tietjen, B., Tscharntke, T., Van Waveren, S. C., & Wiegand, K. (2021). Environmental heterogeneity predicts global species richness patterns better than area. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vital, M. R., de Castro, M. M., Zeringota, V., & Prezoto, F. (2015). Myrmecofauna of urban gardens in southeast region of Brazil. Bioscience Journal, 31(4), 1205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter B. M. T. (2006). Fitofisionomias do bioma Cerrado: Síntese terminológica e relações florísticas. In Dissertation, Universidade de Brasília.

  • Ward, P. S. (1991). Phylogenetic analysis of pseudomyrmecine ants associated with domatia-bearing plants. In P. S. Oliveira & S. Koptur (Eds.), Ant–plant interactions: Impacts of humans on terrestrial ecosystems (pp. 335–352). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiescher, P. T., Perace-Duvet, J. M. C., et al. (2012). Assembling an ant community: Species functional traits reflect environmental filtering. Oecologia, 169, 1063–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the Ecology and Zoology laboratories of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, UFMS, for their support and logistics during the collection, screening, and identification of the material. We are grateful to the Ant Systematics and Biology Laboratory, UFPR, and Professor Dr. Rodrigo dos Santos Machado Feitosa, for their help in identifying the species.

Funding

All authors declare that they have no funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia de Comunidade de Insetos, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais, Universidade Federal de Rondonópolis, Rondonópolis, MT, Brazil

    Rodrigo Aranda

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

    Rodrigo Aranda, Mariáh Tibcherani, Vivian Ayumi Fujizawa Nacagava & Suelen Sandim de Carvalho

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

    Mariáh Tibcherani & Vivian Ayumi Fujizawa Nacagava

  4. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

    Paulo Robson de Souza

Authors
  1. Rodrigo Aranda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mariáh Tibcherani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vivian Ayumi Fujizawa Nacagava
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Suelen Sandim de Carvalho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paulo Robson de Souza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

RA contributed to experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, proofreading, and writing; MT helped in material identification, statistical analysis proofreading, and writing; VAFN performed material identification and writing; SSC and PRS were involved in proofreading and writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodrigo Aranda.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Aranda, R., Tibcherani, M., Nacagava, V.A.F. et al. The role of urban savannah fragments and their characteristics for the conservation of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in central Brazil. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 23, 115–127 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-022-00078-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-022-00078-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation