Variations in ground-dwelling arthropod communities in grazed and protected areasin the desert of Mendoza (Argentina)

LAGOS, S. J.; DOMINGUEZ, M. C.; SCHEIBLER, E. E.

Foz De Iguazú, Brasil

Congreso; XXI International Congress of Entomology; 2000

Arthropods have been used as effective indicators when monitoring or planning management strategies for protected areas. The epigeic arthropods have an additional importance because of their participation in a great number of processes occurring on the ground. Inorder to measure the differences between the arthropod communities belonging to a grazed Prosopis sp. Forest (algarrobo dulce) and a protected forest of Prosopis sp. (Ñacuñan biosphere Reserve, Mendoza, Argentina), pit-fall traps were set during a whole year. Species richness was analyzed using ANOVA; and a qualitative analysis of the guild structure and the family abundance was realized. No significant differences were found during the summer between the grazed area and reserve. During the winter the number of species found in the reserve was significantly higher than in the grazed area. The guild structure followed the same pattern. The phytophages and scavengers were most numerous during the winter in the protected area, bur during the summer the greatest number was found in the grazed forest. A greater number of families were found in the reserve all year round. All this leads us to the idea that the reserve may serve as a refuge for the fauna present at Ñacuñan during the winter.