INVESTIGADORES
CALCATERRA Luis Alberto
artículos
Título:
Diversity of ground-dwelling ants across three severely threatened South American 14 subtropical forests: are diversity patterns influenced by spatial or climatic variables?
Autor/es:
CALCATERRA, L. A.; CHIFFLET, L.; CUEZZO, F.; SÁNCHEZ RETREPO, A. F.
Revista:
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
Editorial:
WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC
Referencias:
Lugar: New York; Año: 2021
ISSN:
1752-458X
Resumen:
1. Understanding the spatial distribution of species sheds light on the biogeographicalhistory, offers clues to the drivers of biodiversity, and helps guide conservationstrategies. In southern South America, Andean, Chaco and Atlantic forests drasticallydecreased their coverage in the last decades mainly by changes in land use.2. Ants represent an excellent model for macro-ecological studies that support evidence40 based management policies. Unfortunately, little is known about ant distribution anddiversity patterns and drivers in the southernmost portion of these three biomes.3. We surveyed ground-dwelling ants using baits and leaf-litter sieves in 38 sites acrossthese subtropical forests in Argentina. We analyzed ant species richness, turnover andcomposition within and between forests, and whether spatial and climatic variablesexplain diversity patterns.4. We collected 161 species belonging to 38 genera. The Atlantic forest had the highestcumulative species richness (91 species), followed by the Chaco (60) and Andean (52)forests. Neither mean species richness nor beta diversity differed significantly betweenforests, though both indicators tended to increase from west to east.5. Seven spatial and climatic variables differenciated forests. Aridity index, and variablesassociated to seasonal rainfall, moderately influenced a tendency to increase speciesrichness from west to east.6. We identified five shared species between the Andean and Atlantic forests, which arecandidates to test biogeographic hypotheses. The high level of species replacementacross and among forests resulted in unique assemblages (with at least 29 endemicspecies), indicating the importance of conserving the biodiversity of the three forests.