Abstract

RAMIREZ RAMIREZ, Mónica; MONTOYA-LERMA, James  and  ARMBRECHT, Inge. Importance of habitat heterogeneity for ant biodiversity in the Colombian Andes. Acta Agron. [online]. 2009, vol.58, n.2, pp.97-102. ISSN 0120-2812.

In order to compare the ant assamblages in the Natural Reserve El Ciprés (Valle- Colombia) and its neighboring farms, periodical ant sampling was carried out between March and October 2002. Each site had two transects of 100m with 10 sampling points. Each sampling point contained a pitfall trap and epigeal tuna bait established for 880 h and 92 days, respectively. In addition, the vegetal structure of each place was characterised. A total of 1471 ants were collected representing 68 species in 26 genera and 8 subfamilies. Two agricultural systems, the silvopastoral guava and passion fruit (Passiflora ligularis) monoculture, typically presented ant species that over numbered other species whereas sites with more complex vegetation structure (i.e. forest, coffee, early succession and fodder banks) had a more equitable distribution for the ant species. In terms of ant richness, the guava system was the richest (31 spp.) followed by coffee (29 spp.) and forest and early succession with 28 spp., each. The latter systems were responsible for a high turn over of species, indicating that the quality of the matrix is an important issue for the biodiversity of ant species.

Keywords : Biodiversity; ants; land uses; spatial heterogeneity; Colombia.

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