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Zhou G, Qin Y, Petticord D, Qiao X, Jiang M. Plant-ant interactions mediate herbivore-induced conspecific negative density dependence in a subtropical forest. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 927:172163. [PMID: 38569958 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/31/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
The early growth stage of plants is vital to community diversity and community regeneration. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis predicts that conspecific density dependence lowers the survival of conspecific seedlings by attracting specialist natural enemies, promoting the recruitment and performance of heterospecific neighbors. Recent work has underscored how this conspecific negative density dependence may be mediated by mutualists - such as how mycorrhizal fungi may mediate the accrual of host-specific pathogens beneath the crown of conspecific adult trees. Aboveground mutualist and enemy interactions exist as well, however, and may provide useful insight into density dependence that are as of yet unexplored. Using a long-term seedling demographic dataset in a subtropical forest plot in central China, we confirmed that conspecific neighborhoods had a significant negative effect on seedling survival in this subtropical forest. Furthermore, although we detected more leaf damage in species that were closely related to ants, we found that the presence of ants had significant positive effects on seedling survival. Beside this, we also found a negative effect of ant appearance on seedling growth which may reflect a trade-off between survival and growth. Overall, our findings suggested that ants and conspecific neighborhoods played important but inverse roles on seedling survival and growth. Our results suggest ants may mediate the influence of conspecific negative density dependence on seedling survival at community level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Yuanzhi Qin
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | | | - Xiujuan Qiao
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
| | - Mingxi Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
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2
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Despland E, Lessard JP. Social predation by ants as a mortality source for an arboreal gregarious forest pest. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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3
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Stüber M, Tack AJM, Zewdie B, Mendesil E, Shimales T, Ayalew B, Nemomissa S, Sjögren J, Vesterinen E, Wezel A, Hylander K. Multi-scale mosaics in top-down pest control by ants from natural coffee forests to plantations. Ecology 2021; 102:e03376. [PMID: 33937985 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
While top-down control plays an important role in shaping both natural and agricultural food webs, we lack insights into how top-down control effects vary across spatial scales. We used a multi-scale survey of top-down control of coffee pests and diseases by arboreal ants to examine if colony location creates a small-scale mosaic in top-down control around trees and if the strength of that control varies between sites at the landscape scale. We investigated pest and disease levels on coffee shrubs at different distances from shade trees with and without a Crematogaster spp. ant colony in 59 sites along a coffee management intensity gradient in southwestern Ethiopia. Within sites, ants significantly suppressed herbivory and coffee leaf rust at distances less than 10 m from nesting trees. Top-down control varied between sites, with stronger top-down control of free-feeding herbivory near ant colonies at sites with lower management intensity and stronger top-down control of a skeletonizer at sites with higher canopy cover. We conclude that the strength of top-down control by ants is highly heterogeneous across spatial scales, as a consequence of the biology of the predator at the small scale and herbivore density or changes in herbivore-ant interactions at the landscape scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Stüber
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden.,Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, ISARA-Lyon, Lyon, 69007, France.,Center for Organic Farming, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, 70599, Germany
| | - Ayco J M Tack
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
| | - Beyene Zewdie
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
| | - Esayas Mendesil
- Department of Horticulture & Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, P.O. Box 307, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Tamiru Shimales
- Jimma Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 192, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Biruk Ayalew
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
| | - Sileshi Nemomissa
- Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 3434, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Jörgen Sjögren
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden.,Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umeå, SE-901 83, Sweden
| | - Eero Vesterinen
- Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexander Wezel
- Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, ISARA-Lyon, Lyon, 69007, France
| | - Kristoffer Hylander
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 106 91, Sweden
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4
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Devegili AM, Lescano MN, Gianoli E, Farji-Brener AG. Evidence of indirect biotic resistance: native ants decrease invasive plant fitness by enhancing aphid infestation. Oecologia 2021; 196:607-618. [PMID: 33616724 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04874-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The biotic resistance hypothesis asserts that native species may hinder the invasion of exotic species, which can occur either directly or indirectly by influencing interactions between exotic and local species. Aphid-tending ants may play a key role in the indirect biotic resistance to plant invasion. Ants may protect aphids, thus increasing their negative effect on exotic plants, but may also deter chewing herbivores, thus benefiting exotic plants. We studied native aphid-tending ants (Dorymyrmex tener, Camponotus distinguendus, and Dorymyrmex richteri) on exotic nodding thistles (Carduus thoermeri), which are attacked by thistle aphids (Brachycaudus cardui) and thistle-head weevils (Rhinocyllus conicus). We evaluated the impact of ants, aphids, and weevils on thistle seed set. We compared ant species aggressiveness towards aphid predators and weevils and performed ant-exclusion experiments to determine the effects of ants on aphid predators and weevils. We analysed whether ant species affected thistle seed set through their effects on aphids and/or weevils. The ant D. tener showed the most aggressive behaviour towards aphid predators and weevils. Further, D. tener successfully removed aphid predators from thistles but did not affect weevils. Excluding D. tener from thistles increased seed set. Analyses supported a negative indirect pathway between the aggressive D. tener and thistle seed set through aphid populations, while the other ant species showed no indirect effects on thistle reproduction. Therefore, aggressive aphid-tending ants may enhance biotic resistance by increasing aphid infestation on exotic invasive plants. This study highlights the importance of indirect biotic resistance in modulating the success of invasive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés M Devegili
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Hormigas (LIHO), Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNComa), Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, C.P: 8400, S.C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.
| | - María N Lescano
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Hormigas (LIHO), Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNComa), Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, C.P: 8400, S.C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Ernesto Gianoli
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, La Serena, Chile.,Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Alejandro G Farji-Brener
- Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Hormigas (LIHO), Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA (CONICET-UNComa), Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, C.P: 8400, S.C. de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
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5
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Origin and elaboration of a major evolutionary transition in individuality. Nature 2020; 585:239-244. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2653-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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6
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Singer MS, Clark RE, Johnson ER, Lichter‐Marck IH, Mooney KA, Whitney KD. Dietary specialization is conditionally associated with increased ant predation risk in a temperate forest caterpillar community. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:12099-12112. [PMID: 31844517 PMCID: PMC6854387 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The enemy-free space hypothesis (EFSH) contends that generalist predators select for dietary specialization in insect herbivores. At a community level, the EFSH predicts that dietary specialization reduces predation risk, and this pattern has been found in several studies addressing the impact of individual predator taxa or guilds. However, predation at a community level is also subject to combinatorial effects of multiple-predator types, raising the question of how so-called multiple-predator effects relate to dietary specialization in insect herbivores. Here, we test the EFSH with a field experiment quantifying ant predation risk to insect herbivores (caterpillars) with and without the combined predation effects of birds. Assessing a community of 20 caterpillar species, we use model selection in a phylogenetic comparative framework to identify the caterpillar traits that best predict the risk of ant predation. A caterpillar species' abundance, dietary specialization, and behavioral defenses were important predictors of its ant predation risk. Abundant caterpillar species had increased risk of ant predation irrespective of bird predation. Caterpillar species with broad diet breadth and behavioral responsiveness to attack had reduced ant predation risk, but these ant effects only occurred when birds also had access to the caterpillar community. These findings suggest that ant predation of caterpillar species is density- or frequency-dependent, that ants and birds may impose countervailing selection on dietary specialization within the same herbivore community, and that contingent effects of multiple predators may generate behaviorally mediated life-history trade-offs associated with herbivore diet breadth.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Kailen A. Mooney
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of California at IrvineIrvineCAUSA
| | - Kenneth D. Whitney
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNMUSA
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7
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Clark RE, Gutierrez Illan J, Comerford MS, Singer MS. Keystone mutualism influences forest tree growth at a landscape scale. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1599-1607. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 03/04/2019] [Accepted: 06/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert Emerson Clark
- Department of Biology Wesleyan University Middletown CT USA
- Department of Entomology Washington State University Pullman WA USA
| | | | - Mattheau S. Comerford
- Department of Biology Wesleyan University Middletown CT USA
- Department of Biosciences Rice University Houston TX USA
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8
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Godschalx AL, Rodríguez-Castañeda G, Rasmann S. Contribution of different predator guilds to tritrophic interactions along ecological clines. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 32:104-109. [PMID: 31113621 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 12/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The strengths of interactions between plants, herbivores, and predators are predicted to relax with elevation. Despite the fundamental role predators play in tritrophic interactions, high-resolution experimental evidence describing predation across habitat gradients is still scarce in the literature and varies by predator. With this opinion paper, we look at how tritrophic strength of systems including different vertebrate and invertebrate predator guilds changes with elevation. Specifically, we focus on how birds, ants, parasitoids, and nematodes exert top-down pressure as predators and propose ways, in which each group could be better understood through elevational gradient studies. We hope to enrich future perspectives for disentangling the different biotic and abiotic factors underlying predator-mediated trophic interactions in a diversity of habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne L Godschalx
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | | | - Sergio Rasmann
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
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Schuldt A, Fornoff F, Bruelheide H, Klein AM, Staab M. Tree species richness attenuates the positive relationship between mutualistic ant-hemipteran interactions and leaf chewer herbivory. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1489. [PMID: 28878067 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Interactions across trophic levels influence plant diversity effects on ecosystem functions, but the complexity of these interactions remains poorly explored. For example, the interplay between different interactions (e.g. mutualism, predation) might be an important moderator of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships. We tested for relationships between trophobioses (facultative ant-hemipteran mutualism) and leaf chewer herbivory in a subtropical forest biodiversity experiment. We analysed trophobiosis and herbivory data of more than 10 000 trees along a tree species richness gradient. Against expectations, chewing damage was higher on trees with trophobioses. However, the net positive relationship between trophobioses and overall herbivory depended on tree species richness, being most pronounced at low richness. Our results point to indirect, positive effects of ant-tended sap suckers on leaf chewers, potentially by altering plant defences. Direct antagonistic relationships of trophobiotic ants and leaf-chewing herbivores-frequently reported to drive community-wide effects of trophobioses in other ecosystems-seemed less relevant. However, antagonistic interactions likely contributed to the attenuating effect of tree species richness, because trophobiotic ant and herbivore communities changed from monocultures to species-rich mixtures. Our findings, therefore, suggest that biodiversity loss might lead to complex changes in higher trophic level effects on ecosystem functions, mediated by both trophic and non-trophic interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Schuldt
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany .,Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle, Germany
| | - Felix Fornoff
- University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Helge Bruelheide
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Am Kirchtor 1, 06108 Halle, Germany
| | - Alexandra-Maria Klein
- University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Michael Staab
- University of Freiburg, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
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10
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Keystone mutualism strengthens top–down effects by recruiting large-bodied ants. Oecologia 2018; 186:601-610. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-017-4047-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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