Patterns of distribution and abundance of ants (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) in three Costa Rican cocoa farm localities)
The distribution and abundance of ant species was studied at three different cocoa farm localities in Costa Rica. One set of field studies involved the census of ant colonies and foraging workers in replicated series of leaf litter-filled plastic cups ("artificial bromeliads") suspended from cocoa trees, boxes of leaf litter on the ground beneath cocoa trees, and plots of rotting disks of banana tree trunks in ground litter beneath cocoa trees. Samples were taken from these in both rainy and dry seasons. This survey was supplemented with bait-censusing of ants in both cocoa farms and tropical rain forest during one dry season. The major findings of these studies are: (1) cocoa farms in lowland or premontane tropical rain forest localities contained many more ant species than a similar farm at a higher elevation, (2) cocoa farms with dense uniform shade cover supported fewer ant species and fewer individuals per species than similar farms in the same locality but with a broken canopy of natural forest, (3) baiting with tuna fish in ground leaf litter and censusing ants in rotting disks of banana tree trunks accounted for a greater portion of the local ant fauna than baiting with fruit or peanut butter or collecting ants from artificial bromeliads and natural ground leaf litter, (4) peak foraging for most species occurred in the morning hours of daylight, and was sustained by some swarm-raiding species throughout the day, and (5) more ant species were found in cocoa farms than in adjacent natural forest.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
1983
|
| Subjects: | ZONAS CACAOTERAS, FORMICIDAE, DISTRIBUCION NATURAL, EVOLUCION DE LA POBLACION, COSTA RICA, |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|