Bromeliad‐associated Reductions in Host Herbivory: Do Epiphytic Bromeliads Act as Commensalists or Mutualists?

Hammill, Edd; Corvalan, Paloma; Srivastava, Diane S.

doi:10.1111/btp.12073

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Our experiment demonstrates that bromeliads are associated with altered trophic structure of the terrestrial invertebrate community in orange trees, although, unlike in previous studies (Dejean et al., ; Hammill et al., ), this trophic shift does not result in reduced leaf damage. The weeks between the “Before” and “After” sampling period coincided with a shift from the dry to wet season, such that time effects in the BACI design were confounded with seasonality, impeding efforts to assign causality to bromeliads.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

“…We cannot exclude the possibility that tree‐level negative covariance is masked by predator aggregation on branches with high densities of herbivores (quadrat‐level positive covariance). Although previous studies (Dejean et al., ; Hammill et al., ) reported evidence consistent with bromeliads initiating top‐down control of herbivores, these bromeliads, unlike ours, contained large, predaceous ants (e.g., Odontomachus spp . ), potentially more effective at controlling herbivores.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 60%

“…If bromeliads are subsidizing their host tree with predators, we would expect that the additional predatory taxa found on trees with bromeliads would be largely those known to use bromeliad rosettes as habitat. Although associations between bromeliads and arthropods are generally facultative, several predatory, and omnivorous taxa, such as ants or jumping spiders, have been regularly documented nesting or resting inside bromeliad rosettes, and their distribution on trees influenced by bromeliad (e.g.,: Stuntz, Ziegler, Simon & Zotz, ; Hammill et al., ; Hénaut et al., ; Castaño‐Meneses, ). They can thus be considered “bromeliad‐associated.” Other predatory and omnivorous organisms were not considered bromeliad‐associated if their presence in bromeliad samples was considered “accidental” based on taxonomy, field observations, and natural history (e.g., ants without nests inside bromeliad rosettes, wasps, or ballooning spiderlings).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that native support trees with ant‐occupied bromeliads display significantly less herbivorous beetle density and leaf damage than trees without bromeliads (Dejean, Olmsted & Snelling, ). Similarly, agricultural orange trees with epiphytic tank bromeliads can have lower leaf herbivory, especially near the bromeliad (Hammill, Corvalan & Srivastava, ). It is therefore possible that bromeliads have an indirect non‐trophic effect on their support tree herbivore communities by altering top‐down control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex indirect effects of epiphytic bromeliads on the invertebrate food webs of their support tree

2019

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Ecosystem engineers are species that affect others through the provision of habitat rather than consumptive resources. The extent to which ecosystem engineers can indirectly affect entire food webs, however, is poorly understood. Epiphytic tank bromeliads (Bromeliaceae) are ecosystem engineers that are common throughout the Neotropics, and are associated with a variety of predatory arthropods. Here, we examine if bromeliads, by increasing predator densities, indirectly benefit their support tree through reduction in herbivorous insects and leaf damage. We observed and manipulated bromeliad densities in Costa Rican orange orchards, and measured impacts on leaf damage and arboreal and bromeliad invertebrate communities in two different seasons. Our results show that bromeliads are associated with predatory and herbivorous invertebrates but not leaf damage. Bromeliads were correlated with increased densities of their associated predators, especially ants and hunting spiders, but we could not confirm a causal link. Associations with bromeliads changed over time, with seasonal shifts interfering with responses to our manipulations. Bromeliads had a reduced association with predators in the dry season. Moreover, a null association between bromeliads and herbivorous invertebrates in the dry season unexpectedly became positive in the wet season. In summary, we have only limited evidence that bromeliads indirectly promote the top‐down control of arboreal herbivores; instead, our manipulations suggest that bromeliads increase herbivore densities in the wet season. This research suggests that although bromeliads may act as ecosystem engineers, indirectly influencing the invertebrate food web on support trees, their effects are trophically complex and seasonally dependent. Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 60%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Complex indirect effects of epiphytic bromeliads on the invertebrate food webs of their support tree

2019

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“…The negative effects of O. hastatus ants on both aquatic and terrestrial metazoans may have implications for the functioning of both ecosystems. In Costa Rica, bromeliad‐associated ants are responsible for reductions in leaf herbivory (Hammill, Corvalan & Srivastava ). Consumption of terrestrial detritivores, especially isopods, by predatory ants may also have conspicuous consequences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of predatory ants within and across ecosystems in bromeliad food webs

Gonçalves

Srivastava

Oliveira

et al. 2017

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Predation is one of the most fundamental ecological processes affecting biotic communities. Terrestrial predators that live at ecosystem boundaries may alter the diversity of terrestrial organisms, but they may also have cross-ecosystem cascading effects when they feed on organisms with complex life cycles (i.e. organisms that shift from aquatic juvenile stages to terrestrial adult stages) or inhibit female oviposition in the aquatic environment. The predatory ant Odontomachus hastatus establishes its colonies among roots of Vriesea procera, an epiphytic bromeliad species with water-filled tanks that shelters many terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Ants may impact terrestrial communities and deter adult insects from ovipositing in the water of bromeliads via consumptive and non-consumptive effects. Ants do not forage within the aquatic environment; thus, they may be more efficient predators on terrestrial organisms. Therefore, we predict that ants will have stronger effects on terrestrial than aquatic food webs. However, such effects may also be site contingent and depend on the local composition of food webs. To test our hypothesis, we surveyed bromeliads with and without O. hastatus colonies from three different coastal field sites in the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil, and quantified the effect of this predatory ant on the composition, density and richness of aquatic and terrestrial metazoans found in these bromeliads. We found that ants changed the composition and reduced the overall density of aquatic and terrestrial metazoans in bromeliad ecosystems. However, effects of ants on species diversity were contingent on site. In general terms, the effects of the ant on aquatic and terrestrial metazoan communities were similar in strength and magnitude. Ants reduced the density of virtually all aquatic functional groups, especially detritivore insects as well as metazoans that reach bromeliads through phoresy on the skin of terrestrial animals (i.e. Ostracoda and Helobdella sp.). Our results suggest that the cross-ecosystem effect of this terrestrial predator on the aquatic metazoans was at least as strong as its within-ecosystem effect on the terrestrial ecosystem, and demonstrates that the same predator can simultaneously initiate cascades in multiple ecosystems.

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The rupicolous bromeliad (Encholirium spectabile) as a keystone species for Brazilian semiarid biodiversity

Jorge

Freire

Caliman

2021

Ecology

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Bromeliad‐associated Reductions in Host Herbivory: Do Epiphytic Bromeliads Act as Commensalists or Mutualists?

Cited by 11 publications

References 34 publications

Complex indirect effects of epiphytic bromeliads on the invertebrate food webs of their support tree

Complex indirect effects of epiphytic bromeliads on the invertebrate food webs of their support tree

Effects of predatory ants within and across ecosystems in bromeliad food webs

The rupicolous bromeliad (Encholirium spectabile) as a keystone species for Brazilian semiarid biodiversity

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