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| Format: | Artículo científico |
| Language: | en |
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Universidad de Colima
2009
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| Online Access: | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=83712319005 |
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Table of Contents:
- Fodder banks: Does cyclic pruning influence soil ant richness (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)? M. Ramírez J. Montoya-Lerma I. Armbrecht Agrociencias Colombia seasonality disturbance small scale Silvopastoral systems Fodder banks, high density plantings of mixed tree species which are pruned for cattle feed, are claimed to be one of the sustainable pastoral management systems because of a series of social and environmental advantages. Despite the apparent biological benefits (biomass, energy and vegetal diversity), studies supporting other sustainability impacts of these systems are scarce or poorly documented. Also, in a general context, though ants have been regarded as very reliable management indicators, few assessments have been carried out in fodder bank systems. The present study evaluated whether drastic disturbances on vegetal cover (pruning) alter ant communities in terms of their assemblage richness and movement. Ants were sampled monthly from two fodder banks, regeneration areas and open pasture lands, using tuna baits and litter samples in permanent transects. Concomitantly, vegetation and litter thicknessmeasurements were obtained. The BrayCurtis index was calculated to determine ant species turnover in fodder banks and neighbouring sites. None of the most abundant ant species appeared to be affected by pruning. Although ant species richness fluctuated during the study period, reduction in species richness were not due to fodder bank pruning. In addition, massive displacement of ants to neighbouring places did not coincide with fodder bank trimming. Hence, it was clear that ant turnover was determined insteadby seasonality. Based on our results, we concluded that normal fodder bank perturbation does not modulate ant diversity. However, we recommend incentives for implementing cultural practices that provide temporary ant refuges when fodder banks are drastically cut. 2009 artículo científico 0188-7890 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=83712319005 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=837 Avances en Investigación Agropecuaria application/pdf Universidad de Colima Avances en Investigación Agropecuaria (México) Num.3 Vol.13