Efeito da presença de colônias de formigas na eclosão de ovos de jacarés (Melanosuchus niger e Caiman crocodilus) na Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Piagaçu-Purus

Abstract

The greatest richness of crocodilian species in the world is found in the Amazon basin. Alligators, when adults, are at the top of the chain food, but during the initial stage of life they are easy prey for many vertebrates and invertebrates. Alligators build their nests by joining leaves, branches and mud, which can function as ideal nesting places for ants. In this work, we evaluated whether alligator nests (Melanosuchus niger and Caiman crocodilus) harbor greater richness and abundance of ants. Were three collection rounds were held in the RDS Piagaçu-Purus: September and December 2013 and October 2014. In each collection round, 6, 8 and 8 alligator nests were sampled, respectively. the ants were collected by six pitfalls established around nests and six pitfalls in areas adjacent to the nests, following a paired sampling design. THE ant richness and abundance were compared by t-tests. The number of species and the abundance of ants around nests and areas adjacent, were similar (t = 0.747, p = 0.231 and t = -0.86, p = 0.80, respectively). In total, 19 species and 442 individuals were recorded in the around the nests and 16 species and 556 ants in the areas adjacent to the nests. Despite the greater amount of resources and decaying material in nests, our results suggest that ground ants do not forage in alligator nests preferably. Possibly the large amount of plant material used to create alligator nests may work as a nesting site for ant species that nest and they forage in the leaf litter.