The Effects of Management Systems on Ground-Foraging Ant Diversity in Costa Rica

Abstract

The loss of biological diversity is an ecological crisis of profound and universal impact (Wilson 1988). Most of this loss is occurring in tropical regions as a result of conversion of forest to agriculture and pasture (Myers 1984). The ``traditional'' solution to reduce loss of species has been to establish national parks and other protected areas and attempt to exclude local populations of people from them. While these pristine parks are critical to protecting many species that cannot survive habitat modification, small islands of pristine forest may not be optimal for the protection of many species on a long-term basis, particularly if they are surrounded by huge expanses of disturbed habitats that restrict migration (Lovejoy et al. 1986, Bierregaard et al. 1992, but see Wu et al. 1993).