Nest refuse of Atta opaciceps (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases plant biomass and diversity during the regrowth of herbaceous species

Santos, Rafaella Santana; Mecenas, Hosana Haum Barros; Sousa-Souto, Leandro

doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2018.10.002

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In this study, the author proposes a complementary effect in which fire would benefit the herbaceous layer and the activities of ants would benefit the tree layer. The results presented here and seen also in a study at field level (Santos et al, 2019) indicate that Coutinho's (1984) hypothesis must be updated. Thus, ants that dispose of waste externally can directly benefit the herbaceous layer, regardless of the presence of natural fires.…”

Section: Treatmentsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…This fact has already been demonstrated in species of ants that deposit their residues externally, such as Acromyrmex lobicornis (Emery, 1888) (Farji-Brener and Ghermandi, 2008;Farji-Brener, 2010) and Atta colombica (Guérin-Méneville, 1844) (Haines, 1978). Another previous study demonstrated the role of NR as islands of colonization of herbaceous species and their role in increasing plant biomass (Santos et al, 2019). The presence of NR not only improves the nutritional quality of the soil but also allows rapid assimilation and improvement in plant nutritional aspects, increasing the content of nutrients in the tissues and the rate of photosynthesis.…”

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…However, an aspect that is still little addressed is the understanding of the isolated effect of NR (in a greenhouse experiment), mainly to explain changes in the development and reproduction of individual plant species (Farji-Brener andWerenkraut, 2015, 2017). Recent studies indicate that pioneer plant species showed a marked development when kept in contact with NR, verified by higher biomass above ground (Santos et al, 2019), a greater amount of fruits (Farji-Brener and Ghermandi, 2008) and a higher number of flowers (Fernandez et al, 2018). These improvement in the performance of plant species in these studies is attributed to a greater supply of nutrients 3/9…”

Section: Turnera Subulata Smith (Turneracea)mentioning

confidence: 80%

“…In general, changes in vegetation structure due to NR are mainly related to greater availability of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (Sternberg et al, 2007;Farji-Brener and Ghermandi, 2008;Farji-Brener and Werenkraut, 2015). This ease of access to nutrients often increases the abundance, diversity and productivity of plants, as well as speeding up the nutrient cycle in various ecosystems, including arid and newly disturbed regions (Moutinho et al, 2003;Cerda et al, 2012;Santos et al, 2019). However, an aspect that is still little addressed is the understanding of the isolated effect of NR (in a greenhouse experiment), mainly to explain changes in the development and reproduction of individual plant species (Farji-Brener andWerenkraut, 2015, 2017).…”

Section: Turnera Subulata Smith (Turneracea)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the plants that access the NR of leaf-cutting ants can not only improve physical and nutritional performance but can also benefit reproductive performance (fitness), for example, with greater production of flowers, fruits and seeds, as well as increased germination rate (Santos et al, 2019). In short, the high nutritional quality of NR, the positive effects observed in the development of native plants or for commercial use in greenhouse cultivation (this study, Santos et al, 2018) or at the field level (Santos et al, 2019), make NR a potentially important natural fertilizer with multiple uses.…”

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nest refuse of Acromyrmex balzani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases the plant vigor in Turnera subulata (Turneraceae)

Santos

Sousa‐Souto

2023

Braz. J. Biol.

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Some studies report the positive effect of organic residues from ant nests on soil properties and on the structure of the adjacent plant community in field experiments, but there is a gap about the effect on individual species. The purpose of the present study was to compare the soil nutrient content and the development of Turnera subulata Smith, an ornamental species, in the presence of the nest refuse (basically composed of fragments of grass leaves and the symbiotic fungus) produced by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex balzani (Emery, 1890) or in control soil through a greenhouse pot experiment. The experiment was carried out with two treatments: control soil and soil with 25% of nest refuse. The plants were kept in 1L pots for 90 days. We evaluated the parameters: plant height, stem diameter, root length, number of leaves, dry weight of the root, dry and fresh aboveground biomass. Additionally, the relative chlorophyll content and leaf nutrients were used as nutritional parameters. As a result, plants that grew in the soil with nest refuse showed significant higher values of all parameters evaluated when compared to the control treatment (p < 0.001). We conclude that this biofertilizer contributed to the production of more vigorous plants, being able to act on the local dynamics of nutrients in the ecosystems where A. balzani occurs. As it is relatively abundant and easy to collect, the refuse of A. balzani has the potential to be used as an alternative substrate in the production of shortlife cycle plants.

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Section: Treatmentsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Turnera Subulata Smith (Turneracea)mentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Turnera Subulata Smith (Turneracea)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nest refuse of Acromyrmex balzani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases the plant vigor in Turnera subulata (Turneraceae)

Santos

Sousa‐Souto

2023

Braz. J. Biol.

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Live Subsoils: Tropical Regolith and Biota Interactions

Schaefer

Oliveira

2022

Subsoil Constraints for Crop Production

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Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

Morales‐Márquez¹,

Meloni

2022

Restoration Ecology

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In dryland environments, where rain is scarce and unpredictable, ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems presents significant challenges. Several restoration techniques based on the functioning of ecosystems have emerged, emphasizing the ecological interactions that promote natural succession. In other environments, the use of soil fauna has been recommended to help accelerate ecological succession due to its effects on the maintenance and improvement of the physical–chemical and biological properties of the soil. Soil fauna is also a seed disperser. It indirectly contributes to the early regeneration of the aboveground community, controls pests, and directly contributes to the maintenance of biological processes in soil. However, its use to restore dryland environments has seldom been considered. Based on a bibliographic review, several key aspects of the importance and the use of soil fauna in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems are discussed, and several recommendations are given. The successional, spatial, and functional aspects are considered to focus on the restoration context. In addition, technical recommendations are provided to accelerate the rapid colonization of soil fauna and to foster the recovery of soil processes. And lastly, the importance of carrying out future manipulative studies investigating the effects of specific soil groups on dryland ecological restoration is highlighted, specifically regarding the improvement of functional parameters such as soil stability and quality.

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Nest refuse of Atta opaciceps (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases plant biomass and diversity during the regrowth of herbaceous species

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Nest refuse of Acromyrmex balzani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases the plant vigor in Turnera subulata (Turneraceae)

Nest refuse of Acromyrmex balzani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases the plant vigor in Turnera subulata (Turneraceae)

Live Subsoils: Tropical Regolith and Biota Interactions

Soil fauna and its potential use in the ecological restoration of dryland ecosystems

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