Food source quality and ant dominance hierarchy influence the outcomes of ant-plant interactions in an arid environment

Flores-Flores, Rocío Vianey; Aguirre, Armando; Anjos, Diego V.; Neves, Frederico S.; Campos, Ricardo I.; Dáttilo, Wesley

doi:10.1016/j.actao.2018.02.004

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…A common feature in the study of mutualisms is the “effectiveness” of mutualistic partners in conferring benefits (Dáttilo et al., ; Fagundes et al., ; Flores‐Flores et al., ; González‐Teuber, Silva Bueno, Heil, & Boland, ; Lange, Calixto, & Del‐Claro, ). However, the definition and assessment of effectiveness vary greatly across studies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Production of extrafloral nectar has been presumed to be inexpensive (O'Dowd, ), which makes it likely that even occasional ant defense might be worth the investment. However, the assumption that a high‐quality reward may drive ant behavior, improving plant defense, has rarely been tested (but see Flores‐Flores et al., ). The physiological costs of nectar production may vary not only genetically (Rutter & Rausher, ), but also as a plastic response to local availability of nutrients and water (Reich et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, offering high‐quality nectar, which we assume here is a more nutritionally balanced reward, can confer benefits to the host plant. Different lines of evidence have led to the hypothesis that plants that offer higher‐volume and more sugar‐rich extrafloral nectars receive better biotic defense in return, mostly due to the dominance of competitively superior ants (Fagundes et al., ; Flores‐Flores et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nectar quality affects ant aggressiveness and biotic defense provided to plants

et al. 2019

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Ant–plant mutualisms are useful models for investigating how plant traits mediate interspecific interactions. As plant‐derived resources are essential components of ant diets, plants that offer more nutritious food to ants should be better defended in return, as a result of more aggressive behavior toward natural enemies. We tested this hypothesis in a field experiment by adding artificial nectaries to individuals of the species Vochysia elliptica (Vochysiaceae). Ants were offered one of four liquid foods of different nutritional quality: amino acids, sugar, sugar + amino acids, and water (control). We used live termites (Nasutitermes coxipoensis) as herbivore competitors and observed ant behavior toward them. In 88 hr of observations, we recorded 1,009 interactions with artificial nectaries involving 1,923 individual ants of 26 species. We recorded 381 encounters between ants and termites, of which 38% led to attack. Sixty‐one percent of these attacks led to termite exclusion from the plants. Recruitment and patrolling were highest when ants fed upon nectaries providing sugar + amino acids, the most nutritious food. This increase in recruitment and patrolling led to higher encounter rates between ants and termites, more frequent attacks, and faster and more complete termite removal. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that plant biotic defense is mediated by resource quality. We highlight the importance of qualitative differences in nectar composition for the outcome of ant–plant interactions. Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nectar quality affects ant aggressiveness and biotic defense provided to plants

et al. 2019

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“…blandus ) and low ( Dorymyrmex piramicus and Pheidole sp.1) aggressive ant species removed 73% and 65% of the mimics, respectively. Hence, even though more aggressive ant species can be more efficient plant bodyguards [ 20 , 30 , 31 ], it is possible that long-term interaction with the most aggressive ants available in the environment may impose some costs that can be detrimental to plant fitness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, ants of different species can impose different direct costs when consuming the extrafloral nectar. A recent study, [ 20 ] evaluating ant response to manipulation in the quality of artificial extrafloral nectar showed that more aggressive ant species dominate plants in periods of high quality nectar secretion. Additionally, during our measures of ant aggressiveness, we observed that ant aggressiveness was positively correlated to the number of recruited workers to the baits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggressive bodyguards are not always the best: Preferential interaction with more aggressive ant species reduces reproductive success of plant bearing extrafloral nectaries

Melati

Leal

2018

PLoS ONE

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Variation in partner species and frequency of interaction between species pairs are potential drivers of the net outcome of generalized mutualisms. In ant-plant mutualisms, the quality of defence provided by ants is related to ant aggressiveness. Hence, we hypothesize that the performance of plants bearing extrafloral nectaries will be higher when they interact more frequently with more aggressive ant species. We estimated ant aggressiveness in the field by observing their behaviour towards soil baits. Afterwards, we observed the frequency with which individuals from these ant species visited plants through an entire reproductive cycle. We measured the production and persistence of plants reproductive structures through this period and the total seed production. Increasing in the interaction frequency with highly aggressive ants reduced the number of floral buds and seeds produced. Increased visitation frequency by less aggressive ants increased the number of floral buds and seeds per branch. The inverse relationship between ant aggressiveness and seed production may be influenced by the costs imposed by different mutualistic partners. Thus, frequent interaction with highly aggressive ants may lead to a higher accumulation of costs through time, resulting in a negative net outcome for the plants. Our results bring new evidence highlighting the importance to incorporate temporal aspects in the study of mutualistic interactions. We suggests that the quality of mutualistic partners must be understood as a function of its per-interaction benefit and their cumulative costs to their partner over time, what puts in check our current classification regarding partner quality in mutualistic systems.

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