Formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) epigeicas e hipogeicas e suas respostas a gradientes edáficos em dois sítios de diferentes florestas Ombrófilas no Estado do Amazonas, Brasil

Abstract

Like other organisms, species of ants responding to variation in edaphic factors in the Amazon region. But we believe these relationships vary between epigeic and hipogeic strata of the ant fauna in their environments. Investigated the differences in species richness and composition of meetings of epigeic and hypogeic ants in two study sites in the Fazenda Experimental da Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAMEI) and BR-319, .in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. In two sites, were collected over 25 plots gf 250 m in each of these samples were taken from 10 subsamples of epigeic ants with pitfall traps and also 10 subsamples of ants with subterranean hypogeic traps installed at two ,depths in the hypogeic stratum. The traps were removed after spending 48 hours, in eacb site coltection. Information on the clay content of the soil and altitude to sea level were obtàined b'y collaboration of researchers in accordande with specífic protocols. We collected 235 taxa (species 1 morphospecies), of which 15 were exclusively hypogeics.'There was a gteater local richness in the epigeic assemblies h-t relatian to hypogeic in tws. areas studied. The assemblies collected in two strata and the two sites were differenl from each other, having a greater'difference between the epigeic gnd hypbgeic assemblies. In this context, the assembjies were less homogeneous in hipogeic straturn. The richness of each stratum was influenced by clay cóntent only at the Experimental Farm of UFAM where this infllience was positive. That same site, only the epigeic, species composition was influenced by altitude and the clay content. This may indicate that there is a division between the epigeic and hypogeic ant assemblies in both areas, but, these factors influenced only the ant fauna of the Farm UFAM. However, the lack of relationship between these variables in assemblies and modules of the BR-319 involves the investigation of other factors that may structure the meetings of ants there. Thus, jnvestigations to clarify the ecology of hypogeic ants can be performed with similar agproach to this study, however, in a different spatial scale.