Abstract
Abstract Tropical montane cloud forests are characterized by a persistent cloud cover at the vegetation level. In central Veracruz, Mexico, these forests are found distributed in several small fragments with differing degrees of disturbance. In this changing ecosystem, the use of indicator groups has been proposed to assess disturbance effects on biodiversity. Ants may serve as bioindicators in various contexts, as they are social insects that have a high response capacity to environmental stimuli. In this study, the relationship of several environmental characteristics to ant diversity was measured in 5 fragments of tropical montane cloud forest in central Veracruz. In total, 5,270 individuals belonging to 75 species, 29 genera, 13 tribes, and 8 subfamilies were collected. The richness, diversity, and evenness increased significantly as a function of the structural complexity of the vegetation. In terms of composition and structure, the assemblages showed high heterogeneity between fragments. The similar...
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