Abstract

CASTRO DELGADO, Silvia; VERGARA COBIAN, Clorinda  and  ARELLANO UGARTE, Consuelo. Distribution of the richness, taxonomic composition and functonal group of soil’s ants along an altitudinal gradient at Laquipampa wildlife refuge, Lambayeque - Peru. Ecol. apl. [online]. 2008, vol.7, n.1-2, pp.89-103. ISSN 1726-2216.

We surveyed species richness, taxonomic composition and functional groups for soil ants along an altitudinal gradient at Laquipampa (Lambayeque - Peru). We selected three strata in the area: high (1824 - 2023 meters high), middle (1362 - 1433 meters high) and low (600 - 810 meters high). In each stratum we located two mountains, and for each mountain we selected two sampling sites, one at the mountaintop and one at the foothill. Thus, in each stratum there were four sampling sites (stations), with a total of 12 sampling stations, 6 at the mountaintops and 6 at the foothills. A total of 892 individuals and 34 species were registered in 96 pitfall traps. Manual collection found 30 species. The combination of both methods resulted in 49 species belonging to 21 genus and 6 subfamilies. At the regional level, the number of species decreased linearly as altitude increased. Overall, the number of species was smaller at the top of the mountain than at its foothill. Temperature, relative humidity and their combined effect can be used to explain the fluctuation in the number of species both locally and regionally, since temperature diminished and humidity increased with altitude. All strata were dominated by omnivorous ants. More than 50% of the species, in each stratum were not found in other strata, suggesting the importance of each kind of forest.

Keywords : Ants; Richness; Altitudinal gradient; Scale.

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