Efeito da mudança do habitat sobre a manutenção do mutualismo entre formigas e plantas na área do parque ambiental de Belém, Pará

Abstract

Myrmecophytic plants are plants that have a mutualistic relationship with ants, which occupy special structures called domatia. This close relationship can be affected by changes in the landscape due to forest fragmentation, in this sense, this work aims to determine whether the changes by fragmentation occurred in the Environmental Park of Belém affect this relationship by altering colonization of plants by ants. The work was carried out in the area of the Environmental Park of Belém, where 20 plots of Sm x 40m demarcated with PVc pipe were implanted. In each plot the myrmecophyte plants were surveyed. When found, they were marked with an aluminum label and the height and number of leaves of each one were measured. In addition, a sample of the ants present in the domes was collected. The ants collected were stored in glass jars containing 70% alcohol and in the laboratory they were mounted on entomological pins and identified. Five plots were inspected out of the 20 demarcated. In these plots, plants were found only in two, totaling 14 individuals. Of these, 11 were identified as Maieta guianensis (Melastomatacea), one Cordia sp. (Boraginaceae) and one Tococa sp. (Melastomataceae). The associated ants were mainly from the subfamily Myrmicinae and Dolichoderinae. In parallel to the survey inside the plots, species outside the plot were identified. A total of 13 plants were counted, all of the species M. guianensis associated with ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. All ants of this subfamily were identified as being of the genus Crematogaster and those of the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the genus Azteca. Our results indicate that despite the great diversity of myrmecophyte species, three species appear as more abundant, in this order: M. guianensis, Tococa sp. and Cordia sp. and that ants of the genus Crematogaster are the most common, unlike what has been reported for other areas. Regarding the effect of the change in the environment on plants and their mutualistic ants, the data collected on vegetation cover indicate that there is no relationship of these neither with the abundance of plants, nor with the colonization of these by ants.