Temporal variation in extrafloral nectar secretion in different ontogenic stages of the fruits of<i>Alibertia verrucosa</i>S. Moore (Rubiaceae) in a Neotropical savanna

Falcão, Jéssica C.F.; Dáttilo, Wesley; Izzo, Thiago J.

doi:10.1080/17429145.2013.782513

Cited by 34 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Here, we reaffirm that ant presence on fruits can repel potential visually oriented fruit dispersers and we expand this vision not only for specialized myrmecophytic species as previously proposed [8]. Some plants that secrete extrafloral nectar on their fruits to attract protective ants decrease nectar secretion at the end of fruit maturation in order to minimize the negative effect of ants on fruit dispersal [20]. However, most plant species do not have extrafloral nectar on their fruits and, therefore, cannot control the presence of ants on this structure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Trait-mediated indirect interactions of ant shape on the attack of caterpillars and fruits

et al. 2016

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Mainly owing to their high diversity and abundance, ants are formidable as predators and defenders of foliage. Consequently, ants can exclude both invertebrate and vertebrate activity on plants via direct and indirect interactions as already shown in many previous studies. Here we present empirical evidence that objects resembling ant shape on dummy caterpillars were able to repel visually oriented predators. Moreover, we also show that rubber ants on dummy fruits can repel potential fruit dispersers. Our results have direct implications on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of interactions in ant-based systems, as ant presence could affect the fitness of its partners. In short, our study highlights the importance of visual cues in interspecific interactions and opens a new way to study the effects of ant presence to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Trait-mediated indirect interactions of ant shape on the attack of caterpillars and fruits

et al. 2016

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“…On the other hand, nectar quantity and quality can vary along the day, and on the same plant [18], [19], [20], which means that an individual plant may be not considered to be a good resource throughout the day. Therefore, this variation in nectar production can influence the daily rate of ant foraging [20], and colony growth [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual-Based Ant-Plant Networks: Diurnal-Nocturnal Structure and Species-Area Relationship

et al. 2014

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Despite the importance and increasing knowledge of ecological networks, sampling effort and intrapopulation variation has been widely overlooked. Using continuous daily sampling of ants visiting three plant species in the Brazilian Neotropical savanna, we evaluated for the first time the topological structure over 24 h and species-area relationships (based on the number of extrafloral nectaries available) in individual-based ant-plant networks. We observed that diurnal and nocturnal ant-plant networks exhibited the same pattern of interactions: a nested and non-modular pattern and an average level of network specialization. Despite the high similarity in the ants’ composition between the two collection periods, ant species found in the central core of highly interacting species totally changed between diurnal and nocturnal sampling for all plant species. In other words, this “night-turnover” suggests that the ecological dynamics of these ant-plant interactions can be temporally partitioned (day and night) at a small spatial scale. Thus, it is possible that in some cases processes shaping mutualistic networks formed by protective ants and plants may be underestimated by diurnal sampling alone. Moreover, we did not observe any effect of the number of extrafloral nectaries on ant richness and their foraging on such plants in any of the studied ant-plant networks. We hypothesize that competitively superior ants could monopolize individual plants and allow the coexistence of only a few other ant species, however, other alternative hypotheses are also discussed. Thus, sampling period and species-area relationship produces basic information that increases our confidence in how individual-based ant-plant networks are structured, and the need to consider nocturnal records in ant-plant network sampling design so as to decrease inappropriate inferences.

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“…), plant structure size (Falcão et al . ), plant size (Trager & Bruna ), plant ontogenetic stages (Villamil et al . , Ochoa‐López et al .…”

Section: Results Of the Generalized Linear Mixed Models Of The Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are flowers sweeter than fruits or buds? Variation in extrafloral nectar secretion throughout the floral ontogeny of a myrmecophile

Villamil

2017

Biotropica

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Temporal variation in extrafloral nectar secretion in different ontogenic stages of the fruits ofAlibertia verrucosaS. Moore (Rubiaceae) in a Neotropical savanna

Cited by 34 publications

References 57 publications

Trait-mediated indirect interactions of ant shape on the attack of caterpillars and fruits

Trait-mediated indirect interactions of ant shape on the attack of caterpillars and fruits

Individual-Based Ant-Plant Networks: Diurnal-Nocturnal Structure and Species-Area Relationship

Why are flowers sweeter than fruits or buds? Variation in extrafloral nectar secretion throughout the floral ontogeny of a myrmecophile

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