Abstract

LIMACHI, Miguel; NAOKI, Kazuya  and  ARMENGOT, Laura. Effect of different 3-4 year old cacao farming systems over the composition of terrestrial ants assemblage. Ecología en Bolivia [online]. 2018, vol.53, n.2, pp.113-127. ISSN 1605-2528.

Ants are considered one of the most important biological components, in terms of biomass, in tropical ecosystems and agroecosystems such as cacao farms. In the Alto Beni region of Bolivia, we evaluated how five cacao production systems (conventional monoculture, organic monoculture, conventional agroforestry, organic agroforestry, and successional agroforestry) affect ant assemblages using pitfall traps in 2011 and 2012. During the study, we recorded 56 ant species, most of which belonged to functional groups typical of early successional vegetation. The ant species composition varied between the most complex agroforestry system (SAFS) and the other cacao production systems; however, no differences in species diversity were observed. The SAFS system was characterized by higher frequency of some ant species such as Atta cephalotes and Pheidole sp3., and by the low presence of some common species in other cacao production systems such as Pogonomyrmex sp. and Camponotus sp. The number of species recorded increased from 43 species in 2011 to 51 species in 2012; this change was characterized by the appearance of some species such as Solenopsis spp., Paratrechina sp., and Pogonomyrmex sp. The lack of correlation between ant diversity and the complexity of the cacao production system is probably due to their young age, between 3-4 years, and lack of development of marked differences in vegetation structure.

Keywords : Agricultural production systems; Ant assemblages; Alto Beni.

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