Morphological characterization of extrafloral nectaries and associated ants in tropical vegetation of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

Aguirre, Armando; Coates, Rosamond; Cumplido-Barragán, Gustavo; Campos-Villanueva, Álvaro; Díaz‐Castelazo, Cecilia

doi:10.1016/j.flora.2013.02.008

Cited by 31 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In spite of the large diversity of species bearing EFNs in the families herein studied (OLIVEIRA; LEITAO-FILHO, 1987;SCHUPP;FEENER, 1991;LINSENMAIR, 1995;REIFENRATH, 2003;DÍAZ-CASTELAZO et al, 2005;MACHADO et al, 2008;AGUIRRE et al, 2013), we reported several features that have not been described before, maybe because of difficulties in detection with superficial observation. For example, the EFNs on the bracts of Costus scaber, which appear as faint, yellow strips on the adaxial surface of the bract.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Regardless the fact that species of the Malvaceae are well represented in tropical ecosystems, the secretory structures and activity of EFNs have been studied in only a few species HALL, 1983;MERCER, 1971a, b;SANTOS, 1959;SAWIDIS et al, 1987a, b;SAWIDIS, 1991;1998;REED et al, 1971;REED, 1917;WERGIN et al, 1975). The species studied here, Heliocarpus appendiculatus and H. donnell-smithii, showed numerous EFNs distributed on the leaf blade and at the base of the leaf, varying in number (AGUIRRE et al, 2013), and similarly to other Malvaceae species these EFNs are very prominent, and form a protuberance with numerous capitate trichomes in the central part (WERGIN et al, 1975;KRONESTEDT et al, 1986;SAWIDIS et al, 1987a, b) these glands are constituted by several cells where the extrafloral nectar secretion occurs (MEIRA et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…In a more recent study, Aguirre et al (2013) documented 50 species with EFNs (16 families, 31 genera). Families with the highest number of species with EFNs were Fabaceae and Euphorbiaceae, which accounted for 52% of species with EFNs in Los Tuxtlas.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure and histology of extrafloral nectaries of tropical species in a mexican rain forest

Rodríguez-Morales¹,

Aguirre²,

Coates‐Estrada³

et al. 2016

Biosci. J.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Structure and histology of extrafloral nectaries of tropical species in a mexican rain forest

Rodríguez-Morales¹,

Aguirre²,

Coates‐Estrada³

et al. 2016

Biosci. J.

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“…The plant species produced nectar (volume and calorie quantities) at different times of day. We found that the seven assessed species produced different total nectar volumes and calorie quantities: two-way ANOVA, F [ 6 , 69 ] = 3.03, p < 0.001) (Fig 3A), for volume; and F [ 6 , 63 ] = 4.33, p < 0.01 (Fig 3B), for calories. Qualea grandiflora and S .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This substance is produced at glandular structures called extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), which highly differ from each other in structure and morphology [4–6]. These glands may be found in all plant organs above the ground and their function is not related to pollination [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in Extrafloral Nectary Productivity Influences the Ant Foraging

2017

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Extrafloral nectar is the main food source offered by plants to predatory ants in most land environments. Although many studies have demonstrated the importance of extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) to plant defense against herbivores, the influence of EFNs secretory activity pattern on predatory ants remains yet not fully understood. Here, we verified the relation between the extrafloral nectar production of a plant community in Cerrado in different times of the day, and its attractiveness to ants. The extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) of seven plant species showed higher productivity overnight. Ant abundance was higher in times of large extrafloral nectar production, however, there was no positive relation between ant richness on plants and EFNs productivity. There was temporal resource partitioning among ant species, and it indicates strong resource competition. The nectar productivity varied among plant species and time of the day, and it influenced the visitation patterns of ants. Therefore, EFNs are a key ant-plant interaction driver in the studied system.

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Nectaries in ferns: their taxonomic distribution, structure, function, and sugar composition

Mehltreter

Tenhaken

Jansen

2022

American J of Botany

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Premise Extrafloral nectaries have mainly been studied in angiosperms, but have also been reported in 39 fern species. Here we provide a global review of nectaries in ferns and examined their structure, function, and nectar sugar composition in two genera. Methods We searched in the literature and living plant collections of botanical gardens for indications of fern nectaries, observed nectar‐feeding animals, studied the morphoanatomy in the two genera Aglaomorpha and Campyloneurum, and analyzed the total sugar concentrations and ratios of 16 species. Diurnal nectar release was observed with time‐lapse photography. Results We found evidence for nectaries in 101 species of ferns from 11 genera and 6 families. Most of the nectary‐bearing species were tree ferns (Cyatheaceae) and epiphytic ferns of the family Polypodiaceae. Nectaries consisted of cytoplasm‐rich parenchyma with large nuclei and an epidermis with or without stomata, were attached to amphiphloic vascular bundles, and released nectar on the lower leaf surface mainly on expanding leaves during the night. Sugar concentrations varied between species (3.8–15.3%) but not between genera, and were sucrose‐dominant (3 spp.), sucrose‐rich (7), or hexose‐rich (3). In the greenhouse, introduced ants, scale insects, and snails fed on the nectar. Conclusions The wide taxonomic distribution, variable morphology, locations, and sugar compositions point to multiple evolutionary origins of fern nectaries. Nectar release in young leaves might attract mutualistic ants to protect leaves against herbivores only during this most vulnerable developmental stage. Even ex‐situ, fern nectar is a valuable food source because it attracted several opportunistic animal species.

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Morphological characterization of extrafloral nectaries and associated ants in tropical vegetation of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

Cited by 31 publications

References 30 publications

Structure and histology of extrafloral nectaries of tropical species in a mexican rain forest

Structure and histology of extrafloral nectaries of tropical species in a mexican rain forest

Variation in Extrafloral Nectary Productivity Influences the Ant Foraging

Nectaries in ferns: their taxonomic distribution, structure, function, and sugar composition

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