Resource density regulates the foraging investment in higher termite species

Almeida, Camilla S.; Cristaldo, Paulo F.; DeSouza, Og; Bacci, Leandro; Florencio, Daniela Faria; Cruz, Nayara G.; Santos, Abraão Almeida; Santana, Alex Fabiano Bertollo; Oliveira, Alexandre Passos; Lima, Ana Paula Santana; Araújo, Ana Paula Albano

doi:10.1111/een.12508

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Branching patterns further constrain the spatial positioning of higher‐order branches (Robinson et al., 2003). In animal systems, a parallel to such constraints may be the use of established paths or tunnels in ant and termite foraging that lead individuals to the most profitable foraging areas (Almeida et al., 2018; Traniello, 1989). Beyond the constraints of shared spatial origin, plant roots are expected to follow the ideal free distribution in the absence of competitors, minimising intraplant competition and maximising resource uptake efficiency (McNickle & Brown, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial mapping of root systems reveals diverse strategies of soil exploration and resource contest in grassland plants

et al. 2020

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When foraging and competing for below‐ground resources, plants have to coordinate the behaviour of thousands of root tips in a manner similar to that of eusocial animal colonies. While well described in animals, we know little about the spatial behaviour of plants, particularly at the level of individual roots. Here, we employed statistical methods previously used to describe animal ranging behaviour to examine root system overlap and the efficiency of root positioning in eight grassland species grown in monocultures and mixtures along a gradient of neighbour densities. Species varied widely in their ability to distribute roots efficiently, with the majority of species showing significant root aggregation at very fine spatial scales. Extensive root system overlap was observed in species mixtures, indicating a lack of territoriality at the level of whole root systems. However, with increasing density of competitors, several species withdrew roots from the periphery of foraging ranges and increased intraplant root aggregation in the remaining area, which may indicate consolidation of foraging areas under competitive pressure. Several species exhibited responses consistent with resource contest in species mixtures where encounters with competitors’ roots triggered increased root aggregation at the expense of foraging efficiency. Such responses only occurred in mixtures of species with comparable competitive abilities but were absent in asymmetric species combinations. Synthesis. Combining fine‐scale measurement of plant root distributions with spatial statistics yields new insights into plant behavioural strategies with significant potential to impact resource foraging efficiency and productivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial mapping of root systems reveals diverse strategies of soil exploration and resource contest in grassland plants

et al. 2020

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“…Thus, C. formosanus changes its recruiting behavior, depending on the quality and amount of food (WALLER; LA FAGE, 1987). Almeida et al (2018) showed that the foraging behavior of Nasutitermes aff. coxipoensis is regulated by food resource availability in experiments carried out in the Brazilian Northeastern region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the amount of food resources in the foraging behavior of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)

et al. 2020

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Food scarcity or abundance are factors regulating termites’ foraging behavior in general. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the influence of four amounts of Eucalyptus grandis on foraging behavior events shown by worker and soldier of Nasutitermes corniger during laboratory tests. The tests were carried out with adult and active N. corniger colonies found in nests collected in the field, which were stored in glass cubes connected to the test arenas. Four different amounts of wood blocks were used in the tests and each amount concerned a treatment and defined a different experimental group: 1, 2, 3 and 4 blocks/arenas, with 5 repetitions. Each test lasted 60 minutes and consisted in observing, or not, the occurrence of behavioral events shown by foragers when they had contact with the treatment. The duration of each event was recorded, whenever it was observed. The number of recruited foragers and the number of workers consuming the blocks were recorded at the end of each test applied to each treatment. Nasutitermes corniger presented the three behavioral events in all treatments; however, there was not significant difference between treatments in the occurrence of the two first events, in the time taken from test start to the occurrence of a new event, in the number of recruited termites and in the number of gnawing workers. Only workers’ mass recruiting was influenced by the amount of wood available. The occurrence of this event was significantly higher in treatments with greater amounts of wood. Thus, N. corniger adjusts its mass recruitment behavior in response to available food amount, which should be considered when developing baiting system for its control.

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“…Communication among nestmates is widespread in ants and other social insects (Beckers et al 1989;Hölldobler and Wilson 1990;Jarau and Hrncir 2009;Almeida et al 2018;Glaser and Grüter 2018;Grüter and Czaczkes 2019). It allows the members of a colony to exchange information about their environment, such as the locations of food sources or the presence of predators and competitors (Kendal et al 2004;Dawson and Chittka 2014;Lanan 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tandem communication improves ant foraging success in a highly competitive tropical habitat

et al. 2021

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Tropical ants experience intense intra- and interspecific competition for food sources, which influences their activity pattern and foraging strategies. Even though different ant species can coexist through spatial and temporal niche partitioning, direct competition for food cannot be avoided. Recruitment communication is assumed to help colonies to monopolize and exploit food sources successfully, but this has rarely been tested under field conditions. We studied if recruitment communication helps colonies of the Neotropical ant Pachycondyla harpax to be more successful in a highly competitive tropical environment. Additionally, we explored if temporal and spatial niche differentiation helps focal colonies to avoid competition. Pachycondyla harpax competed with dozens of ant species for food. Mass-recruiting competitors were often successful in displacing P. harpax from food baits. However, when foragers of P. harpax were able to recruit nestmates they had a 4-times higher probability to keep access to the food baits. Colonies were unlikely to be displaced during our observations after a few ants arrived at the food source. Competition was more intense after sunset, but a disproportionate increase in activity after sunset allowed focal colonies to exploit food sources more successfully after sunset. Our results support the hypothesis that recruitment communication helps colonies to monopolize food sources by helping them to establish a critical mass of nestmates at large resources. This indicates that even species with a small colony size and a slow recruitment method, such as tandem running, benefit from recruitment communication in a competitive environment.

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Resource density regulates the foraging investment in higher termite species

Cited by 14 publications

References 44 publications

Spatial mapping of root systems reveals diverse strategies of soil exploration and resource contest in grassland plants

Spatial mapping of root systems reveals diverse strategies of soil exploration and resource contest in grassland plants

Influence of the amount of food resources in the foraging behavior of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky)

Tandem communication improves ant foraging success in a highly competitive tropical habitat

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