Slicing and Restoring Nature: Ant Community Ecology in the Atlantic Forest

Abstract:
We record leaf litter ant species richness along a latitudinal gradient in the Atlantic Forest based on systematic surveys in 26 regularly spaced localities, covering almost 20o of latitude, and use this information to describe the response of different leaf-litter ant functional groups to the gradient. Applying null morphological models and other statistical tools to a matrix of 18 morphological measurements taken from workers of 540 Atlantic Forest ant species, we recognize sixteen guilds. Mapping pest ants on this scheme, all pest species belong to just two guilds that include also representatives with no economic importance. The main quality shared by pest ants, either urban or agricultural, is the preferred impacted habitats they occupy.