Spatial-temporal dynamics of neotropical velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) communities along a forest-savanna gradient.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how and why biological communities are organized over space and time is a major challenge and can aid biodiversity conservation in times of global changes. Herein, spatial-temporal variation in the structure of velvet ant communities was examined along a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado to assess the roles of environmental filters and interspecific interactions upon community assembly. Velvet ants were sampled using 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for one year along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed on each trap recorded microclimate parameters throughout the study period. The effects of spatial distances, microclimate param

SUBMITTER: Alvarenga JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5659792 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature