Seasonal effects on the functional composition of ants in remnant and restored forest and anthropized areas

• Grant number: 24/22881-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcel Okamoto Tanaka
• Grantee: Bruna Busatto Scopin
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The dynamics of ecosystems are strongly affected by environmental degradation, making the restoration of impacted areas important for the reestablishment of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Beyond taxonomic diversity, which does not always indicate a true representation of the response of organisms and the recovery of ecosystem functions, functional diversity should be considered to monitor and analyze the effectiveness of restoration projects. Ants stand out as part of the recolonizing macrofauna, and they are widely used as bioindicators in monitoring degraded areas due to their great taxonomic and functional diversity. This study aims to evaluate the functional composition of ant communities in an area restored ten years ago, compared to a riparian forest remnant and a pasture area. The communities will be compared during the dry and rainy seasons, considering the expected differences in resource availability during these two periods to assess possible differences between areas. We conducted macroinvertebrate collections in both seasons by setting up pitfalls in six plots in each land-use type. The ants are being identified to genus and morphospecies, and will subsequently be classified into previously established guilds. Our hypothesis is that functional diversity will vary seasonally and also in relation to land-use categories, being higher in the forest remnant and during the rainy season due to greater resource availability. The results could contribute to a better understanding of the recolonization process of fauna and its influence on ecosystem processes in restored areas. (AU)