An Artificial Aril Designed to Induce Seed Hauling by Ants for Ecological Rehabilitation Purposes

Henao-Gallego, Natalia; Escobar-Ramírez, Selene; Calle, Zoraida; Lerma, James Montoya; Armbrecht, Inge

doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.2011.00852.x

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…However, the lack of dispersers in deforested regions hinder dispersal (Cole et al, 2010;Brudvig et al, 2011). Ants are among the common tropical dispersers, especially in ecologically degraded environments (Henao-Gallego et al, 2012). They interact with a broad variety of fruits and seeds while foraging for pulp or aril and as a result promote seed dispersal (Christianini & Oliveira, 2010;Christianini et al, 2012;Escobar-Ramírez et al, 2012;Bieber et al, 2013;Lima et al, 2013;Santana et al, 2013;Gallegos et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants Promote Germination of the Tree Guarea guidonia by Cleaning its Seeds

et al. 2019

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Ants interact with seeds, and frequently remove their appendages. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of ants on the germination of Guarea guidonia (Meliaceae) seeds through removing the fleshy tissue of their integument (sarcotesta). The seeds were subjected to the following treatments: control (no sarcotesta removal), manual removal, and removal by ants. The results show that germination percentage and time varied among treatments, with removal by ants showing the highest percentage within the shortest possible time. The positive effect of sarcotesta removal by ants points to a possible action of anti-fungal substances. As germination is an essential step for recruitment, ant activity may be important to the regeneration of a deforested area. Further studies should consider germination experiments under natural conditions in order to increase the understanding on plant development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants Promote Germination of the Tree Guarea guidonia by Cleaning its Seeds

et al. 2019

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“…Artificial fruits have been used to evaluate ant-diaspore interactions (Henao-Gallego et al, 2012;Bieber et al, 2014;Rabello et al, 2015), and are considered an alternative to using natural diaspores, due to their convenience and reliability. Such artificial fruits can reduce problems with data collection due to shortage of natural fruits during experimental periods, the use of fruits that are less attractive to ants, and variation in chemical and morphological characteristics of fruits, which may differ geographically (Raimundo et al, 2004;Bieber et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of artificial fruits may also help to standardize the methodology of determining the proportion of seeds removed by ants and facilitate comparisons among different studies from different regions (i.e., different biomes), which would not be possible using natural seeds. Moreover, attractive artificial fruits can be used in studies that evaluate the rehabilitation of degraded sites, which, in many cases, are initially devoid of natural seeds (Henao-Gallego et al, 2012;Rabello et al, 2015). In this way, artificial seed removal proportion and the presence of seedremoving ant species could determine, in the absence of natural seeds, whether the ecological function of seed removal is being recovered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We established a single transect in each site containing at least five sampling points, with a minimum distance of 20 m between each of them. We provided at least ten seeds (natural or artificial) per sampling point, and excluded them from vertebrates using a metal mesh cage (Henao-Gallego et al, 2012;Rabello et al, 2015). The variation in the number of seeds and sampling points is due to the use of different sampling design in different experiments that compose this manuscript.…”

Section: Evaluating the Proportion Of Seed Removalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seed removal by ants in Brazilian savanna: optimizing fieldwork

et al. 2018

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There has been an increase in the number of studies using seed removal by ants to evaluate ecosystem functioning; however, these studies encompassed varying time periods and used different types of seeds. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate differences in the proportion of seeds removed by ants in impacted and non-impacted sites in Brazilian savanna. Furthermore, we evaluated seed removal (1) during the morning and after a 24h period of seed exposure and (2) using natural and artificial seeds (manipulated resource to resemble natural seeds). The proportion of seeds removed was higher after the 24h exposure period (artificial seeds) regardless of site status, and more artificial seeds were removed than natural seeds. Our recommendations regarding sampling period depend on whether evaluating impacted or non-impacted sites. Although seed removal was greater after 24h in both impacted and non-impacted sites, we suggest that research evaluating the proportion of seeds removed in non-impacted sites should be performed only in the morning period to optimize the sampling time (removal of 60% during this period). When the aim is to compare non-impacted and impacted sites, we suggest evaluating after 24h of exposure, since the impacted sites experienced a higher proportion of seed removal during the afternoon and/or night time periods. Furthermore, we recommend the use of artificial seeds because they are easier to obtain and manipulate, and allow us to do comparisons between studies at different regions. We consider these findings an important first step towards standardizing future research on seed removal in Brazilian savannas by facilitating fieldwork and allowing comparisons to be made among different studies.

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“…Far from being an inconvenience, this generalism opens the way to the use of grassland ants as dispersers of plant species ecologically important. This would also be of interest to producers if seed hauling of economically valuable seeds by ants could be induced, for example, through the simulation of artificial arils in those seeds (Henao-Gallego et al [53]). Ant-seed interaction in grasslands can be taken into account for ecological rehabilitation plans by directing this functional diversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of Nonmyrmecochorous Seeds by Ants: Role of Ants in Cattle Grasslands

Escobar-Ramírez

López

Henao

et al. 2012

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

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Livestock production models prevailing in Colombian Andes are simplified treeless pastures for extensive ranching, with the consequent reduction of environmental services, such as seed dispersal, due to lack of primary dispersers, scarcity of adequate sites for seedling establishment and competition with grasses. This study evaluated if, in these harsh environments, ants can promote the colonization of arboreal species through directed dispersion of seeds towards the nests. Ten seeds of each species were offered to ants in six grazing pastures. Ants removed 25% of the seeds (1827) in 48 hours. Preference for arillated and small-to-medium sized seeds, such as Pithecellobium dulce, and Guazuma ulmifolia, was observed. Cyphomyrmex major, Ectatomma ruidum, Solenopsis geminata and Atta cephalotes were the key ant species in seed removal. It was concluded that functional ant groups present in the pastures could contribute to secondary dispersion of seeds with potential for restoration.

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An Artificial Aril Designed to Induce Seed Hauling by Ants for Ecological Rehabilitation Purposes

Cited by 14 publications

References 23 publications

Ants Promote Germination of the Tree Guarea guidonia by Cleaning its Seeds

Ants Promote Germination of the Tree Guarea guidonia by Cleaning its Seeds

Seed removal by ants in Brazilian savanna: optimizing fieldwork

Removal of Nonmyrmecochorous Seeds by Ants: Role of Ants in Cattle Grasslands

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