Diversidade de entomobryoidea (ARTHROPODA: COLLEMBOLA) epiedáficos em uma área de cerradão do Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades, estado do Piauí, Brasil

Abstract

Collembola are microarthropods that are distributed over all ecosystems, from polar regions to the tropics, being especially related to the soil. They have a central role in nutrient cycling processes, soil conditioning and energy transfer in the trophic chains. In addition, the potential value of these animals as biological indicators of the soil health and of the quality of the ecosystem is increasingly recognized and, therefore, the knowledge of their diversity becomes useful in the development of environmental conservation and monitoring strategies. The main goal of this study was to estimate the diversity of epiedaphic Entomobryoidea (Arthropoda: Collembola) in a Cerradão environment in Sete Cidades National Park (PNSC) in the rainy season; identify the main environmental variables that influence these diversity patterns and expand the species records for the PNSC. Pitfall traps were used for collect the specimens, and all the collected material was screened with a stereoscopic microscope, and mounted in glass slides for identification in an optical microscope. At end, a total of 408 individuals were identified, distributed in 9 species, being the species Trogolaphysa piracurucaensis and Trogolaphysa sp.1 with greater abundance. Moreover, 6 new species were recorded for PNSC with the Trogolaphysa sp.1, Salina bellinii, Lepidocyrtinus sp.1, Seira sp.4, Seira sp.2 and Seira sp.3. The sample sufficiency of the area was estimated between 63% and 89%. The measured species diversity for the transect was 1.03 for the Shannon-Wiener index and 0.4 for the equitability index of Pielou. The soil moisture and the height of the leaf litter were the best environmental parameters to explain the observed diversity patterns.