Soil and canopy Pseudoscorpiones (Arthropoda, Arachnida) in a monodominant forest of Attalea phalerata Mart. (Arecaceae) in the Brazilian Pantanal

ABSTRACT

We studied the occurrence of Pseudoscorpiones in the soil, leaf litter, and in canopies of a monodominant forest of Attalea phalerata at different seasons in the northern region of the Brazilian Pantanal. A total of 1197 pseudoscorpions from nine families and 16 species were sampled. Olpiidae, Chernetidae, and Geogarypidae predominated in soil and leaf litter. Chernetidae was the most abundant family in canopies. Soil and canopy corresponded to distinct habitats in relation to pseudoscorpion abundance and richness, with the canopies being the most diversified environment. These habitats are occupied in different ways by pseudoscorpion populations. Geogarypus sp. occurs in the edaphic environment during receding water and dry season, but can be found in canopies of A. phalerata exclusively during high water. This alternation in the use of the edaphic environments and canopies in the same area by pseudoscorpion species probably happens due to the strong seasonality of the Brazilian Pantanal.

KEYWORDS:

• Arthropods
• diversity
• seasonal variation
• vertical distribution

Acknowledgments

The authors dedicate this work to late Prof. Dr Joachim Adis for his devotion to the study of arthropods in floodplains and for his taxonomic expertise considered in this study. This research is part of the results of scientific cooperation between the Max-Planck Institute for Limnology, Plön, Germany, and the Federal University of Mato Grosso, UFMT, Cuiabá, Brazil. We thank the Graduate Program in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, Institute of Biosciences, the Laboratory of Ecology and Taxonomy of Arthropods (LETA) of the UFMT and the Pantanal Research Center (CPP), for the infrastructure provide for conducting our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Mato Grosso, FAPEMAT [Process 155864/2015]. A.D. Brescovit received a grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico, CNPq [Process 303028/2014-9].