Ants mediate the structure of phytotelm communities in an ant‐garden bromeliad

Céréghino, Régis; Leroy, Céline; Déjean, Alain; Corbara, Bruno

doi:10.1890/09-1534.1

Cited by 34 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…We homogenized the water within leaf wells by sucking in and out with a pipet, before sucking out the content. Although less efficient than plant dissection, we and other researchers have already successfully used this technique [24], [27]. It was consistently used for all of the samples and most of the water (>95%) was collected.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Invertebrates were sorted in the laboratory and preserved in 70% ethanol. They were identified to genus, species or morphospecies and enumerated (species lists in [21], [24]). Species abundance data (individuals per plant) were used to calculate evenness (Simpson index) and entropy (Shannon-Weaver index) for each invertebrate community.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detritus constitute the main source of energy for aquatic bromeliad communities, however, the high algal biomass found in sun-exposed bromeliads [19] may provide a complementary non-detrital resource to the upper trophic levels. If (i) species richness and abundance increase with bromeliad (habitat) size [20]–[24], and (ii) bromeliads from open area benefit from both detrital and non-detrital resources and understorey bromeliad foodwebs are solely supported by detrital matter [15], then, for a given habitat size, the diversity of invertebrate functional feeding groups should increase from forest to open areas. One may expect shifts in food-web connectance, linkage density, and/or nestedness as species with particular traits are replaced or complemented by species with other traits when shifting from forest understorey to open areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

et al. 2013

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Little is known of how linkage patterns between species change along environmental gradients. The small, spatially discrete food webs inhabiting tank-bromeliads provide an excellent opportunity to analyse patterns of community diversity and food-web topology (connectance, linkage density, nestedness) in relation to key environmental variables (habitat size, detrital resource, incident radiation) and predators:prey ratios. We sampled 365 bromeliads in a wide range of understorey environments in French Guiana and used gut contents of invertebrates to draw the corresponding 365 connectance webs. At the bromeliad scale, habitat size (water volume) determined the number of species that constitute food-web nodes, the proportion of predators, and food-web topology. The number of species as well as the proportion of predators within bromeliads declined from open to forested habitats, where the volume of water collected by bromeliads was generally lower because of rainfall interception by the canopy. A core group of microorganisms and generalist detritivores remained relatively constant across environments. This suggests that (i) a highly-connected core ensures food-web stability and key ecosystem functions across environments, and (ii) larger deviations in food-web structures can be expected following disturbance if detritivores share traits that determine responses to environmental changes. While linkage density and nestedness were lower in bromeliads in the forest than in open areas, experiments are needed to confirm a trend for lower food-web stability in the understorey of primary forests.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

et al. 2013

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“…Ant species with different habitat preferences in terms of sun exposure determine the location of their associated epiphytes by installing their nests in certain parts rather than others of the tree crowns. In so doing, these ants indirectly drive the main environmental constraints on the aquatic habitat, thus mediating the structure and functioning of the aquatic community [8][9][10]. These plants can benefit from myrmecotrophy, protection from herbivores, and, in some cases, pollination [7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tank bromeliads as natural microcosms: A facultative association with ants influences the aquatic invertebrate community structure

Talaga

Dézerald

Carteron

et al. 2015

Comptes Rendus. Biologies

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Many tank bromeliads have facultative relationships with ants as is the case in French Guiana between Aechmea aquilega (Salib.) Griseb. and the trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus haematodus Linnaeus. Using a redundancy analysis, we determined that the presence of O. haematodus colonies is accompanied by a greater quantity of fine particulate organic matter in the water likely due to their wastes. This increase in nutrient availability is significantly correlated with an increase in the abundance of some detritivorous taxa, suggesting a positive bottom-up influence on the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities living in the A. aquilega wells. On the other hand, the abundance of top predators is negatively affected by a lower number of available wells due to ant constructions for nesting, releasing a top-down pressure that could also favor lower trophic levels.

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“…Although the influence of two‐species mutualisms on communities was poorly explored (Savage & Peterson 2007), preliminary observations made on a single location suggested that mutualistic ants can influence the shape and size of their associated plants by determining the distribution of the seedling along gradients of incident light (Leroy et al. 2009), thereby affecting the taxonomic composition of invertebrate communities that depend on the same plant (Céréghino et al. 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant-plant mutualisms promote functional diversity in phytotelm communities

Céréghino¹,

Leroy²,

Carrias³

et al. 2011

Functional Ecology

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Summary1. Our understanding of the contribution of interspecific interactions to functional diversity in nature lags behind our knowledge of spatial and temporal patterns. Although two-species mutualisms are found in all types of ecosystems, the study of their ecological influences on other community members has mostly been limited to third species, while their influence on entire communities remains largely unexplored. 2. We hypothesized that mutualistic interactions between two respective ant species and an epiphyte mediate the biological traits composition of entire invertebrate communities that use the same host plant, thereby affecting food webs and functional diversity at the community level. 3. Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) is both a phytotelm ('plant-held water') and an ant-garden epiphyte. We sampled 111 bromeliads (111 aquatic invertebrate communities) associated with either the ant Pachycondyla goeldii or Camponotus femoratus. The relationships between ants, bromeliads and invertebrate abundance data were examined using a redundancy analysis. Biological traits information for invertebrates was structured using a fuzzy-coding technique, and a co-inertia analysis between traits and abundance data was used to interpret functional differences in bromeliad ecosystems. 4. The vegetative traits of A. mertensii depended on seed dispersion by C. femoratus and P. goeldii along a gradient of local conditions. The ant partner selected sets of invertebrates with traits that were best adapted to the bromeliads' morphology, and so the composition of the biological traits of invertebrate phytotelm communities depends on the identity of the ant partner. Biological traits suggest a bottom-up control of community structure in C. femoratus-associated phytotelmata and a greater structuring role for predatory invertebrates in P. goeldii-associated plants.5. This study presents new information showing that two-species mutualisms affect the functional diversity of a much wider range of organisms. Most biological systems form complex networks where nodes (e.g. species) are more or less closely linked to each other, either directly or indirectly, through intermediate nodes. Our observations provide community-level information about biological interactions and functional diversity, and perspectives for further observations intended to examine whether large-scale changes in interacting species ⁄ community structure over broad geographical and anthropogenic gradients affect ecosystem functions.

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Ants mediate the structure of phytotelm communities in an ant‐garden bromeliad

Cited by 34 publications

References 34 publications

Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

Tank bromeliads as natural microcosms: A facultative association with ants influences the aquatic invertebrate community structure

Ant-plant mutualisms promote functional diversity in phytotelm communities

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