Ant–Plant Interactions: Their Seasonal Variation and Effects on Plant Fitness

Rico-Gray, Víctor; Oliveira, Priscila Souza de; Parra‐Tabla, Víctor; Cuautle, Mariana; Díaz‐Castelazo, Cecilia

doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74002-5_14

Cited by 20 publications

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“…For example, they act as soil engineers by affecting soil lime content, thickness of the organic layer, and compactness (Bonte et al 2003); they compete for food with crabs and other arthropods (Morrison 2002); disturb turtle nests (Wetterer et al 2007); decrease the herbivore population (Oliveira et al 1999;Lehouck et al 2004); transport seeds, and influence plant germination, reproductive success, and distribution patterns (Oostermeijer 1989;Bonte et al 2003;Cuautle et al 2005). They also engage in many mutualistic associations with other creatures (Crutsinger and Sanders 2005;Rico-Gray et al 2007). Therefore, given that few studies have investigated ants on coastal dunes-none along the northern Gulf of Mexico-the first step of this research was to characterize ant diversity, community structure, and how environmental factors, especially vegetation structure, influence ants on dunes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2014

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Coastal dunes are complex and fragile ecosystems. The decrease in environmental stressors from sea to inland creates zonation patterns of habitats, which support high biodiversity. Although coastal dunes have been examined in primary succession studies for more than 100 years, invertebrates have received much less attention than other taxa. In this study, we examined ant community composition and its relationship with vegetation structure on dunes, and used ants as indicators to reveal the influence of anthropogenic disturbances on these habitats. Quadrat sampling, hand collecting, and beating plants were used to sample ants on coastal dunes fringing the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ants representing 44 species were found, with diversity and number of functional groups increasing from foredunes to backdunes. Bush areas of the backdunes supported a unique ant community. Ant diversity was correlated with plant richness, stem number, and plant cover, but the correlation was not consistent among habitats. Ant diversity was lower in degraded, young-planted, and re-built but not in old-planted sites. In addition, different types of disturbance changed the ant community and functional groups in different ways. Our study emphasizes the importance of protecting the whole dune system, especially the backdunes, which support high diversity but are often completely destroyed by urban development. Data from this research provides a benchmark to examine trajectories of coastal dune ecosystem degradation or recovery when exposed to natural or anthropogenic disturbances.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

et al. 2014

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“…For instance, in Mexican sand dunes the plant community offers a variety of food rewards that differ in quality and quantity throughout the year, and this in turn can mediate the outcomes of facultative ant–plant associations in the dune environment (Díaz‐Castelazo et al . 2004; Rico‐Gray et al . 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual ant attraction in the Neotropical shrubUrera baccifera(Urticaceae): the role of ant visitation to pearl bodies and fruits in herbivore deterrence and leaf longevity

2006

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Summary1. This study investigated the protective role of ants against phytophagous insects on Urera baccifera (L.) Gaudich . Ants (22 species) visit shrubs of U. baccifera throughout the year and forage especially on leaves, where they harvest pearl bodies, and on fruiting branches, where they collect fleshy fruits. The main leaf herbivores are the butterflies Smyrna blomfildia (Fruhstorfer) and Urbanus esmeraldus (Butler), and the moth Pleuroptya silicalis (Guené). 2. The proportion of vegetative (no flowers or fruits) individuals of U. baccifera occupied by ants greatly surpassed that of neighbouring plant species lacking food rewards, consistent with the hypothesis that pearl bodies act as ant attractants. Ant visitation to vegetative individuals of U. baccifera increased larval mortality of S. blomfildia , suggesting that ants attracted to pearl bodies reduce herbivore survival. Fruits were also demonstrated to play an important role in ant attraction by U. baccifera . Ant visitation to pearl body-producing shrubs of non-myrmecophytic Piper amalago L. with U. baccifera fruits attached was significantly higher than to P. amalago plants with an attached leaf of U. baccifera . 3. Ant-exclusion experiments showed that ants effectively reduce the incidence of lepidopteran larvae on the plants. In both 2003 and 2004, herbivores were more abundant on ant-excluded than on ant-visited shrubs of U. baccifera . Additionally, in both years ant-excluded plants had significantly faster leaf abscission rates compared with ant-visited plants. 4. So far, all ant-plant systems with dual food rewards involve extrafloral nectar as one of the attractants. This study with U. baccifera is the first to report food bodies and fruits as ant attractants in a non-symbiotic ant-plant interaction. This facultative system is also unique in that herbivore deterrence caused by pearl body-and fruitharvesting ants can also add to leaf longevity.

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“…temperature and humidity) for ants (Kaspari et al 2003). The arrival of the dry sampling period alters the resource availability and offers risk of desiccation, causing a decrease in ant activity and switches to other types of resources (Kaspari and Weiser 2000;Rico-Gray 2004). Thus, it is possible that in the dry sampling period arboreal ants have to intensify their activities on the ground to search for other resources or to defend territory (Hahn and Wheeler 2002).…”

Section: Mining Impact Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

When is the best period to sample ants in tropical areas impacted by mining and in rehabilitation process?

et al. 2015

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Fluctuating resources and conditions can regulate the community structure of ants, affecting their activities and interactions. This has important implications for the selection of sampling periods during bioindication studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate if the chosen sampling period influences the response of ant assemblage diversity and ecological function to mining impacts and rehabilitation age after mining. We used ant assemblage parameters, including arboreal, epigaeic and hypogaeic ant species richness and composition, seed-removing ant species richness and composition, and seed removal rate in areas impacted by mining and with different rehabilitation ages. We showed that in most cases the response is the same, regardless of sampling period. However, we suggest that ant sampling is best undertaken in the rainy period, when ant species richness reaches higher values and the assemblage composition presents a well-marked difference among the areas. We also indicate that the epigaeic ant assemblage is sufficient for evaluating mining impacts, but arboreal strata should also be sampled in rehabilitation scenarios.

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Ant–Plant Interactions: Their Seasonal Variation and Effects on Plant Fitness

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico

Dual ant attraction in the Neotropical shrubUrera baccifera(Urticaceae): the role of ant visitation to pearl bodies and fruits in herbivore deterrence and leaf longevity

When is the best period to sample ants in tropical areas impacted by mining and in rehabilitation process?

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