Abstract

The diversity of Collembola across three forest types was compared on the basis of species richness, abundance and species turnover. The goal of this study was to identify patterns of diversity at local scale in each forest type sample and to compare it at the regional scale. Our results showed that samples taken from the Atlantic Forest had higher α, β and γ diversity than those from Amazon Campinarana Forest and Caatinga Forest, as a result of soil humidity/moisture and environmental complexity. Samples from Amazon Campinarana Forest shared four species with those from Atlantic Forest, whereas the Caatinga Forest, the driest studied environment, showed the lowest richness, diversity and abundance. The Caatinga Forest was more dissimilar when compared with the other two, with the highest δ diversity, due to the extreme environmental conditions and specialized fauna. These results may have important impact on management and conservation efforts, and highlight the importance of the spatial scale as a parameter for defining conservation units and conservation policies.

Key words: Amazon Campinarana, Atlantic Forest, Brazilian Collembola, Caatinga Forest, species turnover.