Introduction

General description

Project description

Sampling methods

Sampling description: 

Ants were sampled in permanent plots with five samples per sampling method along the transects 0 km, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km, 3 km and 4 km (Fig. 1). We used the RAPELD sampling design, which is based on a system of trails and permanent plots where a diverse range of taxa can be sampled (Costa and Magnusson 2010, Magnusson et al. 2005, Magnusson et al. 2013). The permanent plots are 250 m long and positioned to follow terrain contours to minimize the effects of topographical variation within plots. In each site, plots were 1 km apart from each other, following the same spatial design.

Figure 1.  

Transects of each module to collect ants in the influence areas of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant, Porto Velho - RO, with perpendicular distances from the river margin. In details are each transect with a 1 km distance from each other following the same spatial design and each sampling plot in the permanent plots of 250 m length.

The protocol adopted for collection of litter ants is called the ALL protocol (leaflet ants), which is globally standardized on inventories of a litter of ant fauna (Agosti and Alonso 2000). Ground-dwelling ants collected in plots using litter samples were processed in Winkler extractors. Litter-dwelling ants were sampled from a 1 m² litter in sampling plots located at 50 m intervals along the center line of each transect. Using a Winkler extractor with a 1 cm² mesh sieve, the leaves were sifted through a wire sieve of 1 cm² mesh size by shaking the sifter vigorously at least 15 times. The ants were extracted from the sifted litter and placed in a mesh bag inside a cotton bag for 24 hours (Fig. 2). If the sifted leaf litter volume exceeded the capacity of a single mini-Winkler extractor, a second extractor was used. In behavioural response to litter drying, the ants migrate from the suspended sample and fall into a container partially filled with alcohol at the bottom of the bag (Agosti et al. 2000, Bestelmeyer et al. 2000) (Fig. 3). The litter-sampling procedures were undertaken between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. All ants were first identified to genus using the taxonomic keys provided by Baccaro et al. 2015. Then, they were sorted into species and morphospecies. We used available taxonomic keys or compared with specimens in collections previously identified by experts. A unique identification was given for each morphospecies based on morphological differences from related species. The morphotyping was the same for all collection sites. Vouchers are deposited in the invertebrate collection of the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA).

Figure 2.  

Sample from 1 m² leaf litter of each sampling plot located at 50 m intervals along the transect and mesh sieve used to separate the leaves from the invertebrates.

Figure 3.  

Mini-Winkler extractors composed by a mesh bag filled with sifted sample inside and a cotton bag outside. In response to the drying, the ants migrate from the suspended sample and fall into a container partially filled with alcohol at the bottom of the bag.

Geographic coverage

Taxonomic coverage

Traits coverage

Temporal coverage

Collection data

Usage rights

Data resources

Data set name: 

Environmental monitoring of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the influence areas of Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power-Plant in Rondônia, Brazil.

Character set: 

Event

Data format: 

Darwin Core

Description: 

Biodiversity loss is accelerating rapidly in response to increasing human influence on the Earth’s natural ecosystems. One way to overcome this problem is by focusing on places of human interest and monitoring the changes and impacts on the biodiversity. This study was conducted at six sites within the influence area of the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant in the margins of the Madeira River, Rondônia. The sites cover a latitudinal gradient of approximately 100 km in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. The sampling design included six sampling modules with six transects in each module, totaling 30 sampling plots in each module. Transects were distrubuted with 0 km, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km, 3 km, and 4 km, measured perpendicularly from the river margin towards the interior of the forest. For sampling the ground-dwelling ants, we used the ALL (ants of the leaf litter) protocol, which is standardized globally in the inventories of ant fauna. For the purpose of impact indicators, the first two campaigns (September 2011 to November 2011) were carried out in the pre-filling period, while campaigns 3 to 10 (Febuary 2012 to November 2014) were carried out during and after the filling of the hydroelectric reservoir. A total of 253 events with a total of 9.165 occurrences were accounted during the monitoring. The ants were distributed in 10 subfamilies, 68 genera, and 324 species/morphospecies (Fig. 4). The impact on ant biodiversity during the periods before and after filling was measured by ecological indicators and by the presence and absence of some species/morphospecies. This is the first study, as far as we know, including taxonomic and ecological treatment to monitor the impact of a hydroelectric power plant on ant fauna.

Figure 4.  

Species occurrence before and after reservoir filling in the Santo Antônio Hydroelectric Power Plant. Dotted lines mark the 95% confidence intervals.

Column label	Column description
eventID	An identifier for the set of information associated with an Event (something that occurs at a place and time).
eventDate	The date-time or interval during which an Event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date-time when the event was recorded.
eventTime	The time or interval during which an Event occurred.
habitat	A category or description of the habitat in which the Event occurred.
samplingProtocol	The name of, reference to, or description of the method or protocol used during an Event.
samplingEffort	The amount of effort expended during an Event.
eventRemarks	Comments or notes about the Event.
sampleSizeUnit	The unit of measurement of the size (time duration, length, area or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.
sampleSizeValue	A numeric value for a measurement of the size (time duration, length, area or volume) of a sample in a sampling event.
fieldNotes	The text of notes taken in the field about the Event.
continent	The name of the continent in which the Location occurs.
country	The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the Location occurs
countryCode	The standard code for the country in which the Location occurs.
stateProvince	The name of the next smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region, etc.) in which the Location occurs.
county	The full, unabbreviated name of the next smaller administrative region than stateProvince (county, shire, department, etc.) in which the Location occurs.
locality	The specific description of the place.
locationRemarks	Comments or notes about the Location.
decimalLongitude	The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a Location.
decimalLatitude	The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic center of a Location.
modified	The most recent date-time on which the resource was changed.
datasetName	The name identifying the data set from which the record was derived.
type	A list of nomenclatural types.
language	A language of the resource.
institutionID	An identifier for the institution having custody of the material referred to in the record.
institutionCode	The acronym in use by the institution having custody of the material referred to in the record.
rightsHolder	The organization owning the rights over the resource.

Additional information

Acknowledgements

Author contributions

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Supplementary materials