EFFECT OF HUMAN DISTURBANCES ON ANT COMMUNITY AND AMAZONIAN LANDSCAPE

Abstract

The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on the ant community and on the Amazonian landscape in areas of tropical rain forest. The study was conducted in two areas: Cabo Rosa Forest and Tauari Forest with different levels of human disturbances in the municipality of Marabá, Pará, Brazil. A characterization of the descriptors of anthropogenic activities was carried out for each study area in order to generate an index of anthropogenic disturbance. The vegetation structure was classified into: exposed soil, low, medium and high vegetation cover through NDVI. Ant sampling was carried out using pitfall traps. The vegetation structure, diversity and abundance parameters were related to the areas. Similarities between the species composition of the ant communities were verified by a similarity analysis. We found that human disturbances are modifying the vegetation structure by reducing the forest cover of the tree stratum and leaving the landscape with a higher occurrence of open areas. Regarding the ant community, we corroborate the hypothesis that anthropic disturbances are reducing the local biodiversity. Thus, this study shows that anthropogenic disturbances have negative effects on the Amazonian landscape and on the ant community through the reduction of forest cover and decrease in ant biodiversity. These changes can cause the conversion of climax communities in early successional stages and reduce the ecological services provided by ants (e.g. seed dispersal).