Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • FAQ
    • Log in

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Effect of fire on ant assemblages in brazilian cerrado in areas containing vereda wetlands

    237906_237906.pdf (790.6Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Costa-Milanez, C.
    Ribeiro, F.
    Castro, P.
    Majer, Jonathan
    Ribeiro, S.
    Date
    2015
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Type
    Journal Article
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract

    Cerrado is a biome whose evolution is intimately influenced by constant fire events. Although many species are capable of dealing with this predictable impact, many others may be negatively affected, resulting in community changes after fire. Using ants as bioindicators of changes in biodiversity and environmental conditions, this study evaluated the effects of fire in two Cerrado vegetation types: "cerrado" sensu stricto, a xeric savanna, and wetland "veredas", a mesic vegetation on floodable soils, where water concentrates and ultimately flows towards rivers. We examined the effects of fire on both habitats in two independent sites, but with special consideration to the wetlands, which are not fully adapted to fire. Ant sampling was conducted twice before and twice after a fire event, using 288 baits and 416 pitfall traps (soil and arboreal), and 16 hand collections along three random replicate transects per area. Ant species richness and abundance were resilient to fire, and exhibited a remarkably consistent seasonal variation at unburned and burned sites. On the other hand, the fire markedly changed the ant species composition. In the wetlands, the fire spread underground due to the high concentration of peat. The impact on ant assemblages was substantial and visually perceptible for some species like Camponotus rufipes, which suffered a considerable reduction in the number of individuals after fire in this habitat. In the cerrado, a similar result was observed for Crematogaster nr. obscurata, which disappeared after fire. The wetland vegetation having little adaptation to fire, plus low resilience in the ant community resulted in a severely changed fauna, both in guild predominance and species composition, and return to an original state is uncertain.

    Citation
    Costa-Milanez, C. and Ribeiro, F. and Castro, P. and Majer, J. and Ribeiro, S. 2015. Effect of fire on ant assemblages in brazilian cerrado in areas containing vereda wetlands. Sociobiology. 62 (4): pp. 494-505.
    Source Title
    Sociobiology
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/11055
    DOI
    10.13102/sociobiology.v62i4.770
    Department
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    Remarks

    This open access article is distributed under the Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Resistance and resilience to changing climate and fire regime depend on plant functional traits
      Enright, Neal; Fontaine, J.; Lamont, Byron; Miller, Ben; Westcott, V. (2014)
      1. Changing disturbance–climate interactions will drive shifts in plant communities: these effects are not adequately quantified by environmental niche models used to predict future species distributions. We quantified ...
    • Resistance and resilience to changing climate and fire regime depend on plant functional traits
      Enright, N.; Fontaine, J.; Lamont, Byron; Miller, B.; Westcott, V. (2014)
      Changing disturbance-climate interactions will drive shifts in plant communities: these effects are not adequately quantified by environmental niche models used to predict future species distributions. We quantified the ...
    • Conservation biology of banksias: insights from natural history to simulation modelling
      Lamont, Byron; Enright, Neal; Witkowski, E.; Groeneveld, J. (2007)
      We have studied the ecology and conservation requirements of Banksia species in the species-rich sandplains of south-western Australia for 25 years. Loss of habitat through land-clearing has had the greatest impact on ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDocument TypesThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsDocument Types

    My Account

    Log in

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Connect with Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Send FeedbackContact Us
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace