Ants as biological indicators of Wayana Amerindian land use in French Guiana

Abstract

We examined the ecological impact of traditional land use by Wayana Amerindians in French Guiana using ants as bio-indicators. Ants were sampled through a rapid assessment method and the core results analyzed using Kohonen's self-organizing maps (SOM). Our sample sites included: (1) a Wayana village; (2) a cassava plantation; (3) an abandoned cassava plantation; (4) a forest fragment near the village; (5) a riparian forest; and (6) a primary terra firma forest. The ant diversity decreases according to the degree to which the habitat is disturbed. The SOM allowed us to compare the ecological succession between the six habitats. The protocol used is robust since the same conclusions were drawn using partial data.