Insecta and Collembola as bioindicators of ecological restoration in the Ombrophilous Dense Forest in Southern Brazil

The objective of this study was to evaluate the capacity as bioindicators of litter arthropodofauna in pasture restoration in the Atlantic Forest Biome. Areas of native forest under natural regeneration, and pastures treated with different ecological restoration techniques were evaluated, with pitfall traps. The sampling period was from April/2017 to October/2018, bimonthly. Families Ptiliidae, Staphylinidae, and Leiodidae, species Pheidole cf. sarcina (Formicidae) and Mastigoceras sp. 1 and Szeptyckitheca sp. 1 (Collembola) were indicators of well-conserved areas, whereas families Cicadellidae and Delphacidae, Formicidae species Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863) and Camponotus melanoticus Emery, 1894 were indicators of degraded areas. From the springtail community, species richness is a metric that can be used as a bioindicator. It was observed that all taxonomic identification levels allowed for the differentiation of the environmental conditions of the sampling areas, with less specific identification levels, such as family, possibly indicating changes in areas under the restoration process.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the capacity of litter arthropodofauna as bioindicators in pasture restoration in the Atlantic Forest Biome. Different ecological restoration techniques were compared, revealing certain arthropods that can serve as indicators of habitat condition. The richness of springtail species emerged as a useful metric for assessing environmental changes.