Chronic anthropogenic disturbance causes homogenization of plant and ant communities in the Brazilian Caatinga

Abstract

Although chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) represents a significant threat to the integrity of tropical biotas, few efforts have been made to understand its impacts. We address the effects of CAD on plant and ant communities in the Caatinga, a seasonally dry tropical forest in northeast Brazil. Both taxa were recorded across 25 0.1-ha plots within a 220-km2 landscape dominated by old-growth vegetation exposed to human activities. CAD was measured indirectly via a disturbance index, which was calculated from proxies of human disturbance such as plot distance to roads and villages, and density of people and livestock. Plant and ant abundance was not correlated to the CAD index. However, CAD had negative, positive or neutral effects on species diversity, depending upon diversity measure, taxa and soil type; e.g. plants were more negatively affected than ants. Furthermore, several plant and ant species exhibited higher abundance in the most disturbed vegetation patches while some exhibited lower abundance. Species-level responses resulted in taxonomic responses at the community level and increments in cross-plot species similarity as CAD increased. Our results indicate that: (1) CAD affects several community-level attributes, but with differing intensities; (2) community-level effects can be either positive or negative, and effects are soil dependent; (3) plants are more negatively affected than ants; (4) some species benefit, while others are negatively affected by CAD; and (5) by affecting the abundance and occurrence of particular species, CAD causes biotic homogenization towards the higher end of the disturbance gradient.