ATLANTIC FOREST SIZE EFFECT ON STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF SOIL ARTHROPODS COMMUNITY, RJ, BRAZIL

Resumo

Forest fragmentation may influence the soil fauna community. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that exists differences in the structure and composition of the soil arthropod communities among three Atlantic Rain Forest fragments with different sizes (SF: small; MF: medium and LF: large fragment) in Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The sample of the organisms occurred by means of random stratified installation of pitfall traps, during the rainy and dry seasons. The organisms were identified in taxonomic groups (mainly in order). The tested hypothesis was corroborated because the soil arthropod communities with more complex structure occurred in the MF (higher values of evenness and diversity) and in the LF (higher richness), which presented more similarity to each other, in comparison to the SF (higher total abundance). Collembola, Coleoptera, Chilopoda, Hymenoptera, Enchytraeidae and Blattodea featured the MF and the LF, whereas the SF favored Formicidae.