Abstract

RAMIREZ R, MóNICA; ARMBRECHT P, INGE  and  ENRIQUEZ L, MARTHA LUCíA. Importance of agricultural management for biodiversity: case of ants in sugar cañe. Rev. Colomb. Entomol. [online]. 2004, vol.30, n.1, pp.115-123. ISSN 0120-0488.

Given that ants respond to different practices, generated by agriculture, this paper analyses and compares information from two studies conducted in sugar cañe fields of the Cauca Valley. In both studies, two lineal transects were situated in which ten equidistan! (10 m) stations were placed for a total of 20 stations; each station had one tuna bait and one pitfall trap, that were operated for 83,3 and 441,6 continuous days, respectively. Ib predict and compare richness in sugar cañe fields and their neighbouring sites, different richness estimators were used that work with species abundance; múltiple comparisons analyses and cluster analyses were conducted. We captured 97 species distributed in 22 genera and 6 subfamilies. The richest sugar cañe fields were those whose management had less impact on the soil and better care of adjacent sites. The sugar cañe fields of El Hatico and Roma were more similar probably due to the regional effect that the habitat mosaic of the Reserve had on its surroundings, while El Medio and San Julián, which represent degraded conditions, were placed in another group. Thls analyses highlights the importance of sugar cañe management as the dominant matrix in the Cauca Valley and the diversification of the landscape in order to preserve the biodiversity pf ant communities.

Keywords : Ant assemblages; Matrix management; Forest patch; Guadua stands; Local and regional environment.