Efeitos dos ninhos de Atta laevigata (Fr. Smith, 1858) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) sobre a vegeta？？o do cerrado

the leaf cutting ants (hymenoptera: formicidae: attini) are recognized by their ability of leaf shedding as well as the consequences that generate in vegetation due to a number of processes involved. the construction of the nest together with the behavior of transport of material to the inside of it causes changes in the physical-chemical properties of soil, which might affect the plant community in the brazilian savanna. we evaluated the rate of survival, mortality and recruitment of plants (< 1.5 m in height) inserted in the center of the nest atta laevigata in a square of 1m x 1m in an area of cerrado sensu stricto in regeneration at the ecological station of panga (eep), uberlandia-mg for three years. the same protocol was done to the adjacent area (cerrado), five meters away from the center of murundu. the square sampled at the center of the nest showed a lower abundance of plants (< 1.5 m in height) when compared with the adjacent area. but in the course of the study, the rates of survival, mortality and recruitment of plants did not differ significantly among the different sites sampled. the results show that the initial stage of formation of murundu is a determinant factor for mortality for burying of most of the seedlings lying about it. thus, these nests may play important ecological functions related to the dynamic processes of establishment and survival of seedlings and a consequently interference with successional stages of vegetation.