Composition, richness, and diversity, of the litter arthropod fauna of a heterogeneous secondary forest and an adjacent monoculture of Eucalyptus sp. was compared in the State Park of Rio Doce, MG. In addition whether or not there was a relationship between species richness and diversity with distance from the boundary between the two systems, and the efficiency of visual collecting methods compared to Berlese-Tullgren funnels was analysed. The litter community of arthropods of the forest showed a greater richness of taxa (149 morphospecies), higher diversity (H'=1.80), and low similarity with that of the plantation area, which richness was 46 morphospecies and diversity H'=1.46. A relationship between richness and diversity with increasing distance from the boundary between the two systems was not observed. The collecting methods differed regarding the capture of specimens of insects of different orders. Berlese-Tullgren funnels and visual collecting captured more species in the native forest (97 species) than in Eucaliptus forest (22 species). Berlese-Tullgren funnels collected mainly organisms of small body size like mites and trips. The litter community of arthropods encountered in the forest appeared more structured and integrated than that present in the area of the Eucalyptus sp. monoculture.
Arthropoda; soil arthropods; diversity; environmental degradation
