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Ballarin CS, Vizentin-Bugoni J, Hachuy-Filho L, Amorim FW. Imprints of indirect interactions on a resource-mediated ant-plant network across different levels of network organization. Oecologia 2024; 204:661-673. [PMID: 38448764 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-024-05522-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Indirect interactions are pivotal in the evolution of interacting species and the assembly of populations and communities. Nevertheless, despite recently being investigated in plant-animal mutualism at the community level, indirect interactions have not been studied in resource-mediated mutualisms involving plant individuals that share different animal species as partners within a population (i.e., individual-based networks). Here, we analyzed an individual-based ant-plant network to evaluate how resource properties affect indirect interaction patterns and how changes in indirect links leave imprints in the network across multiple levels of network organization. Using complementary analytical approaches, we described the patterns of indirect interactions at the micro-, meso-, and macro-scale. We predicted that plants offering intermediate levels of nectar quantity and quality interact with more diverse ant assemblages. The increased number of ant species would cause a higher potential for indirect interactions in all scales evaluated. We found that nectar properties modified patterns of indirect interactions of plant individuals that share mutualistic partners, leaving imprints across different network scales. To our knowledge, this is the first study tracking indirect interactions in multiple scales within an individual-based network. We show that functional traits of interacting species, such as nectar properties, may lead to changes in indirect interactions, which could be tracked across different levels of the network organization evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caio S Ballarin
- Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização e Interações, LEPI, Departamento de Biodiversidade e Bioestatística, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Rua Prof. Dr. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil.
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil.
| | - Jeferson Vizentin-Bugoni
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Biodiversidade Animal, Departamento de Ecologia, Zoologia e Genética, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Campus Universitário, Capão do Leão, RS, CEP 96010-900, Brasil
| | - Leandro Hachuy-Filho
- Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização e Interações, LEPI, Departamento de Biodiversidade e Bioestatística, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Rua Prof. Dr. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil
| | - Felipe W Amorim
- Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização e Interações, LEPI, Departamento de Biodiversidade e Bioestatística, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (UNESP), Rua Prof. Dr. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho", Botucatu, São Paulo, CEP 18618-689, Brazil
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López-Segoviano G, Arenas-Navarro M, Nuñez-Rosas LE, Arizmendi MDC. Implications of dominance hierarchy on hummingbird-plant interactions in a temperate forest in Northwestern Mexico. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16245. [PMID: 37868051 PMCID: PMC10588686 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The structuring of plant-hummingbird networks can be explained by multiple factors, including species abundance (i.e., the neutrality hypothesis), matching of bill and flower morphology, phenological overlap, phylogenetic constraints, and feeding behavior. The importance of complementary morphology and phenological overlap on the hummingbird-plant network has been extensively studied, while the importance of hummingbird behavior has received less attention. In this work, we evaluated the relative importance of species abundance, morphological matching, and floral energy content in predicting the frequency of hummingbird-plant interactions. Then, we determined whether the hummingbird species' dominance hierarchy is associated with modules within the network. Moreover, we evaluated whether hummingbird specialization (d') is related to bill morphology (bill length and curvature) and dominance hierarchy. Finally, we determined whether generalist core hummingbird species are lees dominant in the community. We recorded plant-hummingbird interactions and behavioral dominance of hummingbird species in a temperate forest in Northwestern Mexico (El Palmito, Mexico). We measured flowers' corolla length and nectar traits and hummingbirds' weight and bill traits. We recorded 2,272 interactions among 13 hummingbird and 10 plant species. The main driver of plant-hummingbird interactions was species abundance, consistent with the neutrality interaction theory. Hummingbird specialization was related to dominance and bill length, but not to bill curvature of hummingbird species. However, generalist core hummingbird species (species that interact with many plant species) were less dominant. The frequency of interactions between hummingbirds and plants was determined by the abundance of hummingbirds and their flowers, and the dominance of hummingbird species determined the separation of the different modules and specialization. Our study suggests that abundance and feeding behavior may play an important role in North America's hummingbird-plant networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel López-Segoviano
- Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores (ENES), Unidad Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, México
| | - Maribel Arenas-Navarro
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad (IIES), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Laura E. Nuñez-Rosas
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, Mexico
| | - María del Coro Arizmendi
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México, Mexico
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Moura RF, Del-Claro K. Plants with extrafloral nectaries share indirect defenses and shape the local arboreal ant community. Oecologia 2023; 201:73-82. [PMID: 36372829 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05286-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Associational resistance (AR) is a positive interaction in which a plant suffers less herbivore damage due to its association with a protective plant. Here, we evaluated whether plants with extra-floral nectaries (EFNs) can share indirect defenses with neighboring plants. We sampled 45 individuals of an EFN-bearing liana (Smilax polyantha) and recorded whether their support species had EFNs. In S. polyantha, we measured foliar herbivory and flower and fruit production. We examined the ant species composition and visitation of S. polyantha and whether they changed according to the supporting plant type (with or without EFNs). We experimentally determined whether S. polyantha supplemented with artificial nectaries could share indirect defenses with defenseless neighboring plants. Support plants with EFNs indirectly benefited S. polyantha by sharing mutualistic ant species. Smilax polyantha supported by plants with EFNs had a more specific ant species composition, a higher number of visiting ants and ant species richness, and exhibited nearly 3 times less foliar herbivory. However, we did not observe differences in fruit production between the two groups of S. polyantha. Finally, we observed that S. polyantha with artificial nectaries increased ant visitation on neighboring plants 2.5 times. We provide evidence that interspecific neighbors with EFNs can experience reciprocal benefits by sharing indirect defenses. Such local effects might escalate and affect the structure of plant communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renan Fernandes Moura
- Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
- Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Masada, Israel.
- Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
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Scale of effect matters: Forest cover influences on tropical ant-plant ecological networks. FOOD WEBS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2022.e00256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Cuautle M, Díaz-Castelazo C, Castillo-Guevara C, Torres Lagunes CG. Changes in the core species of the ant-plant network of oak forest converted to grassland: replacement of its ant functional groups. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13679. [PMID: 35855899 PMCID: PMC9288171 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Land-use change in terrestrial environments is one of the main threats to biodiversity. The study of ant-plant networks has increased our knowledge of the diversity of interactions and structure of these communities; however, little is known about how land-use change affects ant-plant networks. Here we determine whether the change in land use, from native oak forest to induced grassland, affected the network properties of ant-plant networks in a temperate forest in Mexico. We hypothesize that the disturbed vegetation will be more nested and generalized due to the addition of generalist species to the network. The oak forest network comprises 47 plant species and 11 ant species, while the induced grassland network has 35 and 13, respectively. Floral nectar was the resource used most intensely by the ants in both vegetation types. The ant-plant network of the induced grassland was significantly more nested and generalist than that of the oak forest; however, none of the networks were nested when considering the frequency of interaction. In both vegetation types, the ants were more specialized than the plants, and niche overlap was low. This could be related to the dominant species present in each type of vegetation: Prenolepis imparis in the oak forest and Camponotus rubrithorax in the grassland. The central core of cold climate ant species in the oak forest was replaced by a central core of subordinate Camponotini and tropical specialists in the induced grassland. These results suggest that the increase in nestedness and generalization in the grassland may be related to the loss of the cold climate specialists from the core of the oak forest network. Our findings provide evidence that land-use change increases the level of generalization in the ant-plant interaction networks of temperate forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariana Cuautle
- Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Puebla, México
| | - Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Citlalli Castillo-Guevara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, México
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Antoniazzi R, Camarota F, Leponce M, Dáttilo W. Discovery-defense strategy as a mechanism of social foraging of ants in tropical rainforest canopies. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the coexistence of ants sharing similar food resources, including ecological trade-offs, however, these hypotheses have mostly been tested in ground-dwelling ant communities. For instance, the discovery-dominance trade-off hypothesis states that species with overlapping food resources differ in their ability to find and dominate resources. However, ant species may use different strategies to share food resources, including discovery-defense, in which the first species to arrive at a food resource maintains control of it. Here, we evaluated whether the discovery-dominance trade-off hypothesis, or the discovery-defense strategy could be a mechanism that promotes coexistence of ant species in the canopy of highly diverse tropical forest canopies. We evaluated the succession of ant species on 72 baits exposed on 24 trees during 13 observation periods (15–195 min) in the canopy of a tropical rain forest in Mexico. In general, we observed little variation in ant species composition (i.e., low β-diversity values) during the 195 min of bait exposure. Moreover, we found that ant species with the greatest ability to discover new food resources were those that dominated them. These findings empirically show that the discovery-defense strategy can be a social foraging strategy in rain forest canopy ants and reject the discovery-dominance trade-off. In short, our results highlight the importance of the discovery of a food resource in the canopy of a tropical rain forest, allowing it to be dominated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reuber Antoniazzi
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, Col. El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Flávio Camarota
- Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Maurice Leponce
- Biodiversity Monitoring and Assessment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, Brussels, Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, Col. El Haya, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
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Dáttilo W, MacGregor-Fors I. Ant social foraging strategies along a Neotropical gradient of urbanization. Sci Rep 2021; 11:6119. [PMID: 33731763 PMCID: PMC7969926 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85538-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
During the last decades, urbanization has been highlighted as one of the main causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Among organisms commonly associated with urban environments, ants occupy urbanized green areas and can live both inside and around human settlements. However, despite the increasing number of studies on the ecological dynamics of ant species developed mainly in temperate urban ecosystems, there is still little knowledge about the behavioral strategies that allow ant species to live and even thrive within cities. In this study, we evaluated the role of urbanization in shaping ant communities, including their social foraging, considering built cover as a gradually changing variable that describes an urban gradient. Specifically, we assessed whether species richness, composition, and the proportion of exotic ant species are related to an urban gradient in a medium-sized Neotropical city immersed in a cloud forest context in Mexico. Moreover, we evaluated the social foraging strategies that could promote ant species coexistence in an urban environment. In general, and contrary to our hypothesis, we found no evidence that the built cover gradient affected the richness, composition, or proportion of exotic ant species foraging on food resources, indicating a filtering and simplification of ant communities given by urbanization. Moreover, we show for the first time that urban ant species exhibited a “discovery-defense strategy”, whereby the ant species with the greatest capacity to discover new food resources were those that showed the greatest ability to monopolize it after 120 min of observation, regardless of the type of resource (i.e., tuna or honey bait). Our findings have a direct impact on the knowledge about how urbanization shapes ant communities and behavior, by showing the foraging strategies of ant species that feed on similar food resources present that allows them to coexist in urban environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
| | - Ian MacGregor-Fors
- Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. .,Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Lahti, Finland.
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Juárez-Juárez B, Cuautle M, Castillo-Guevara C, López-Vázquez K, Gómez-Ortigoza M, Gómez-Lazaga M, Díaz-Castelazo C, Lara C, Pérez-Toledo GR, Reyes M. Neither ant dominance nor abundance explain ant-plant network structure in Mexican temperate forests. PeerJ 2020; 8:e10435. [PMID: 33354422 PMCID: PMC7727367 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ant-plant mutualistic networks tend to have a nested structure that contributes to their stability, but the ecological factors that give rise to this structure are not fully understood. Here, we evaluate whether ant abundance and dominance hierarchy determine the structure of the ant-plant networks in two types of vegetation: oak and grassland, in two temperate environments of Mexico: Flor del Bosque State Park (FBSP) and La Malinche National Park (MNP). We predicted that dominant and abundant ant species make up the core, and submissives, the periphery of the network. We also expected a higher specialization level in the ant trophic level than in plant trophic level due to competition among the ant species for the plant-derived resources. METHODS The ant-plant interaction network was obtained from the frequency of ant-plant interactions. We calculated a dominance hierarchy index for the ants using sampling with baits and evaluated their abundance using pitfall traps. RESULTS In MNP, the Formica spp. species complex formed the core of the network (in both the oak forest and the grassland), while in FBSP, the core species were Prenolepis imparis (oak forest) and Camponotus rubrithorax (grassland). Although these core species were dominant in their respective sites, they were not necessarily the most dominant ant species. Three of the four networks (oak forest and grassland in FBSP, and oak forest in MNP) were nested and had a higher number of plant species than ant species. Although greater specialization was observed in the ant trophic level in the two sites and vegetations, possibly due to competition with the more dominant ant species, this was not statistically significant. In three of these networks (grassland and oak forest of MNP and oak forest of FBSP), we found no correlation between the dominance hierarchy and abundance of the ant species and their position within the network. However, a positive correlation was found between the nestedness contribution value and ant dominance hierarchy in the grassland of the site FBSP, which could be due to the richer ant-plant network and higher dominance index of this community. CONCLUSIONS Our evidence suggests that ant abundance and dominance hierarchy have little influence on network structure in temperate ecosystems, probably due to the species-poor ant-plant network and a dominance hierarchy formed only by the presence of dominant and submissive species with no intermediate dominant species between them (absence of gradient in hierarchy) in these ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda Juárez-Juárez
- Maestría en Biotecnología y Manejo de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Mariana Cuautle
- Departamento de Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
| | - Citlalli Castillo-Guevara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Karla López-Vázquez
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - María Gómez-Ortigoza
- Departamento de Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
| | - María Gómez-Lazaga
- Departamento de Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
| | - Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Carlos Lara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | | | - Miguel Reyes
- Departamento de Actuaría, Física y Matemáticas, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
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Guimarães PR. The Structure of Ecological Networks Across Levels of Organization. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012220-120819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Interactions connect the units of ecological systems, forming networks. Individual-based networks characterize variation in niches among individuals within populations. These individual-based networks merge with each other, forming species-based networks and food webs that describe the architecture of ecological communities. Networks at broader spatiotemporal scales portray the structure of ecological interactions across landscapes and over macroevolutionary time. Here, I review the patterns observed in ecological networks across multiple levels of biological organization. A fundamental challenge is to understand the amount of interdependence as we move from individual-based networks to species-based networks and beyond. Despite the uneven distribution of studies, regularities in network structure emerge across scales due to the fundamental architectural patterns shared by complex networks and the interplay between traits and numerical effects. I illustrate the integration of these organizational scales by exploring the consequences of the emergence of highly connected species for network structures across scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo R. Guimarães
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-090, Brazil
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Camarota F, Vasconcelos HL, Marquis RJ, Powell S. Revisiting ecological dominance in arboreal ants: how dominant usage of nesting resources shapes community assembly. Oecologia 2020; 194:151-163. [PMID: 32909091 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04748-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Ecologically dominant species can shape the assembly of ecological communities via altering competitive outcomes. Moreover, these effects may be amplified under limited niche differentiation. Nevertheless, the influences of ecological dominance and niche differentiation on assembly are rarely considered together. Here, we provide a novel examination of dominance in a diverse arboreal ant community, defining dominance by the prevalent usage of nesting resources and addressing how it influences community assembly. We first used a series of quantitative observational and experimental studies to address the natural nesting ecology, colony incidence on surveyed trees, and level of dominance over newly available nesting resources by our focal species, Cephalotes pusillus. The experimental studies were then used further to examine whether C. pusillus shapes assembly via an influence on cavity usage by co-occurring species. C. pusillus was confirmed as a dominant user of cavity nesting resources, with highly generalized nesting ecology, occupying about 50% of the trees within the focal system, and accounting for more than a third of new cavity occupation in experiments. Our experiments showed further that the presence of C. pusillus was associated with modest effects on species richness, but significant decreases in cavity-occupation levels and significant shifts in the entrance-size usage by co-occurring species. These results indicate that C. pusillus, as a dominant user of nesting resources, shapes assembly at multiple levels. Broadly, our findings highlight that complex interactions between a dominant species and the resource-usage patterns of other species can underlie species assembly in diverse ecological communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flávio Camarota
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, USA. .,Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil. .,Instituto de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil.
| | | | - Robert J Marquis
- Department of Biology and the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63121, USA
| | - Scott Powell
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, USA
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Díaz-Castelazo C, Martínez-Adriano CA, Dáttilo W, Rico-Gray V. Relative contribution of ecological and biological attributes in the fine-grain structure of ant-plant networks. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8314. [PMID: 32161686 PMCID: PMC7050545 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2015] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Ecological communities of interacting species analyzed as complex networks have shown that species dependence on their counterparts is more complex than expected at random. As for other potentially mutualistic interactions, ant-plant networks mediated by extrafloral nectar show a nested (asymmetric) structure with a core of generalist species dominating the interaction pattern. Proposed factors structuring ecological networks include encounter probability (e.g., species abundances and habitat heterogeneity), behavior, phylogeny, and body size. While the importance of underlying factors that influence the structure of ant-plant networks have been separately explored, the simultaneous contribution of several biological and ecological attributes inherent to the species, guild or habitat level has not been addressed. Methods For a tropical seasonal site we recorded (in 48 censuses) the frequency of pairwise ant-plant interactions mediated by extrafloral nectaries (EFN) on different habitats and studied the resultant network structure. We addressed for the first time the role of mechanistic versus neutral determinants at the ‘fine-grain’ structure (pairwise interactions) of ant-plant networks. We explore the simultaneous contribution of several attributes of plant and ant species (i.e., EFN abundance and distribution, ant head length, behavioral dominance and invasive status), and habitat attributes (i.e., vegetation structure) in prevailing interactions as well as in overall network topology (community). Results Our studied network was highly-nested and non-modular, with core species having high species strengths (higher strength values for ants than plants) and low specialization. Plants had higher dependences on ants than vice versa. We found that habitat heterogeneity in vegetation structure (open vs. shaded habitats) was the main factor explaining network and fine-grain structure, with no evidence of neutral (abundance) effects. Discussion Core ant species are relevant to most plants species at the network showing adaptations to nectar consumption and deterrent behavior. Thus larger ants interact with more plant species which, together with higher dependence of plants on ants, suggests potential biotic defense at a community scale. In our study site, heterogeneity in the ant-plant interactions among habitats is so prevalent that it emerges at community-level structural properties. High frequency of morphologically diverse and temporarily-active EFNs in all habitats suggests the relevance and seasonality of plant biotic defense provided by ants. The robust survey of ecological interactions and their biological/ecological correlates that we addressed provides insight of the interplay between adaptive-value traits and neutral effects in ecological networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Cristian A Martínez-Adriano
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México.,Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Linares, Nuevo León, México
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Victor Rico-Gray
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
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12
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Antoniazzi R, García‐Franco J, Janda M, Leponce M, Dáttilo W. Diurnal foraging ant–tree co‐occurrence networks are similar between canopy and understorey in a Neotropical rain forest. Biotropica 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Milan Janda
- Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Morelia México
| | - Maurice Leponce
- Biodiversity Monitoring & Assessment Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Brussels Belgium
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology Université Libre de Bruxelles Brussels Belgium
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología Instituto de Ecología A.C. Xalapa México
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Yitbarek S, Philpott SM. Arboreal twig-nesting ants form dominance hierarchies over nesting resources. PeerJ 2019; 7:e8124. [PMID: 31799079 PMCID: PMC6884992 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Interspecific dominance hierarchies have been widely reported across animal systems. High-ranking species are expected to monopolize more resources than low-ranking species via resource monopolization. In some ant species, dominance hierarchies have been used to explain species coexistence and community structure. However, it remains unclear whether or in what contexts dominance hierarchies occur in tropical ant communities. This study seeks to examine whether arboreal twig-nesting ants competing for nesting resources in a Mexican coffee agricultural ecosystem are arranged in a linear dominance hierarchy. We described the dominance relationships among 10 species of ants and measured the uncertainty and steepness of the inferred dominance hierarchy. We also assessed the orderliness of the hierarchy by considering species interactions at the network level. Based on the randomized Elo-rating method, we found that the twig-nesting ant species Myrmelachista mexicana ranked highest in the ranking, while Pseudomyrmex ejectus was ranked as the lowest in the hierarchy. Our results show that the hierarchy was intermediate in its steepness, suggesting that the probability of higher ranked species winning contests against lower ranked species was fairly high. Motif analysis and significant excess of triads further revealed that the species networks were largely transitive. This study highlights that some tropical arboreal ant communities organize into dominance hierarchies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Senay Yitbarek
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
| | - Stacy M. Philpott
- University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States of America
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Miranda PN, Ribeiro JELDS, Luna P, Brasil I, Delabie JHC, Dáttilo W. The dilemma of binary or weighted data in interaction networks. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2018.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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15
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Dáttilo W, Vizentin-Bugoni J, Debastiani VJ, Jordano P, Izzo TJ. The influence of spatial sampling scales on ant-plant interaction network architecture. J Anim Ecol 2019; 88:903-914. [PMID: 30883711 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Despite great interest in metrics to quantify the structure of ecological networks, the effects of sampling and scale remain poorly understood. In fact, one of the most challenging issues in ecology is how to define suitable scales (i.e., temporal or spatial) to accurately describe and understand ecological systems. Here, we sampled a series of ant-plant interaction networks in the southern Brazilian Amazon rainforest in order to determine whether the spatial sampling scale, from local to regional, affects our understanding of the structure of these networks. To this end, we recorded ant-plant interactions in adjacent 25 × 30 m subplots (local sampling scale) nested within twelve 250 × 30 m plots (regional sampling scale). Moreover, we combined adjacent or random subplots and plots in order to increase the spatial sampling scales at the local and regional levels. We then calculated commonly used binary and quantitative network-level metrics for both sampling scales (i.e., number of species and interactions, nestedness, specialization and modularity), all of which encompass a wide array of structural patterns in interaction networks. We observed increasing species and interactions across sampling scales, and while most network descriptors remained relatively constant at the local level, there was more variation at the regional scale. Among all metrics, specialization was most constant across different spatial sampling scales. Furthermore, we observed that adjacent assembly did not generate more variation in network descriptor values compared to random assembly. This finding indicates that the spatially aggregated distribution of species/individuals and abiotic conditions does not affect the organization of these interacting assemblages. Our results have a direct impact on our empirical and theoretical understanding of the ecological dynamics of species interactions by demonstrating that small spatial sampling scales should suffice to record some patterns commonly found in ant-plant interaction networks in a highly diverse tropical rainforest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
| | | | - Vanderlei J Debastiani
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| | - Thiago J Izzo
- Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil
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16
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Castillo-Guevara C, Cuautle M, Lara C, Juárez-Juárez B. Effect of agricultural land-use change on ant dominance hierarchy and food preferences in a temperate oak forest. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6255. [PMID: 30656073 PMCID: PMC6336009 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The discovery-dominance trade-off is the inverse relationship between the ability of a species to discover resources and the species' dominance of those resources; a paradigm used to explain species coexistence in ant communities dependent on similar resources. However, factors such as stress (e.g., temperature) or disturbance (e.g., removal of biomass) associated with the change in land use, can modify this trade-off. Here, we aimed to determine the potential effects of land use change on dominance hierarchy, food preferences and on the discovery-dominance trade-off. Methods An experiment with baits was used to investigate the dominance hierarchies of ant communities in a temperate mountain habitat in central Mexico. We evaluated the dominance index (DI), food preferences and discovery-dominance trade-offs of ants inhabiting two types of vegetation: a native oak forest and agricultural land resulting from agricultural land use and grazing. Results The ant communities in both environments were comprised of three species of ants (Monomorium minimum, Myrmica mexicana, and Camponotus picipes pilosulus), four morphospecies (Pheidole sp.1 and Pheidole sp.2, Temnothorax sp. and Lasius sp.) and one genus (Formica spp.). All Formicidae showed values of intermediate to low DI, and this factor did not seem to be influenced by the change in land use. Ants in the modified vegetation (i.e., agricultural land) were found to be numerically greater. Overall, a higher number of visits were registered to the tuna bait, although the duration of foraging events to the honey baits was longer. However, foraging times were dependent on the species considered: the generalized Myrmicinae, M. minimum, the ant species with highest DI, foraged for longer periods of time in the agricultural land and on the tuna bait. Meanwhile, the cold-climate specialist Formica spp., with a lower DI, foraged for longer periods of time in the oak (although not significant) and on the honey bait. We found little evidence of the discovery-dominance trade-off; instead, we found considerable diversity in the strategies used by the different species to access resources. This range of strategies is well represented by the generalized Myrmicinae M. minimum, the cold-climate specialists Formica spp. and Temnothorax sp., and the rare species, as the cold climate specialist Lasius sp. (insinuators). Conclusions Our evaluation shows that transformation of the original habitat does not appear to affect the hierarchical dominance of the ant communities, but it does affect their food preferences. Species with higher DI values such as the generalized Myrmicinae are more skilled at resource acquisition in modified habitats. Our results suggest that change in land use promotes an increase in the diversity of foraging strategies used by different ant species. This diversity may contribute to resource partitioning which favors coexistence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mariana Cuautle
- Departamento de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad de las América Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | - Carlos Lara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - Brenda Juárez-Juárez
- Maestría en Biotecnología y Manejo de Recursos Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico
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17
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Tavella J, Cagnolo L. Does fire disturbance affect ant community structure? Insights from spatial co-occurrence networks. Oecologia 2018; 189:475-486. [PMID: 30539298 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4320-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The coexistence of several species involves a complex mix of positive and negative interactions that can be represented as networks. As much as other ecological features, patterns of multispecies co-occurrence are susceptible to anthropogenic disturbance. In ant communities, wildfires may enhance competitive interactions by benefiting active, aggressive species, and by increasing encounter probabilities through decreased space availability. We explored ant co-occurrence patterns by analysing the macro and microscopic structure of their interaction networks in burned and unburned habitats. We built co-occurrence networks using significant aggregations and segregations between species pairs as positive and negative interactions, respectively. We described aggregate network properties and microscopic structural changes by comparing species and interactions turnover between burned and unburned sites. We found no differences in the macroscopic structure of co-occurrence networks between different fire regimes. However, we detected changes in the composition of both species and negative interactions. Interaction turnover between networks of different habitats was mostly explained by rewiring of interactions between shared species rather than by species replacement. Our results reflected changes in ant communities in response to fire although there were no changes in global structural patterns. These changes in species and negative interactions suggest modifications in species roles translated into changes in the spatial distribution of ant species. The analysis of species co-occurrence networks is a useful tool to detect and visualize patterns in ant communities and to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of disturbance on biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Tavella
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Vélez Sarsfield 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina.
| | - Luciano Cagnolo
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Vélez Sarsfield 1611, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina
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18
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Koch EBA, Dáttilo W, Camarota F, Vasconcelos HL. From species to individuals: does the variation in ant–plant networks scale result in structural and functional changes? POPUL ECOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10144-018-0634-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elmo B. A. Koch
- Instituto de Biologia, Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia e BiomonitoramentoUniversidade Federal da BahiaSalvadorBahiaBrazil
| | - Wesley Dáttilo
- Instituto de Ecología A.C., Red de EcoetologíaXalapaVeracruzMexico
| | - Flávio Camarota
- Department of Biological SciencesThe George Washington UniversityWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Heraldo L. Vasconcelos
- Instituto de BiologiaUniversidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU)UberlândiaMinas GeraisBrazil
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19
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McPeek MA. Mechanisms influencing the coexistence of multiple consumers and multiple resources: resource and apparent competition. ECOL MONOGR 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark A. McPeek
- Department of Biological Sciences; Dartmouth College; Hanover New Hampshire 03755 USA
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20
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Food source quality and ant dominance hierarchy influence the outcomes of ant-plant interactions in an arid environment. ACTA OECOLOGICA 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2018.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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21
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Dáttilo W, Lara-Rodríguez N, Jordano P, Guimarães PR, Thompson JN, Marquis RJ, Medeiros LP, Ortiz-Pulido R, Marcos-García MA, Rico-Gray V. Unravelling Darwin's entangled bank: architecture and robustness of mutualistic networks with multiple interaction types. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2016.1564. [PMID: 27881755 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Trying to unravel Darwin's entangled bank further, we describe the architecture of a network involving multiple forms of mutualism (pollination by animals, seed dispersal by birds and plant protection by ants) and evaluate whether this multi-network shows evidence of a structure that promotes robustness. We found that species differed strongly in their contributions to the organization of the multi-interaction network, and that only a few species contributed to the structuring of these patterns. Moreover, we observed that the multi-interaction networks did not enhance community robustness compared with each of the three independent mutualistic networks when analysed across a range of simulated scenarios of species extinction. By simulating the removal of highly interacting species, we observed that, overall, these species enhance network nestedness and robustness, but decrease modularity. We discuss how the organization of interlinked mutualistic networks may be essential for the maintenance of ecological communities, and therefore the long-term ecological and evolutionary dynamics of interactive, species-rich communities. We suggest that conserving these keystone mutualists and their interactions is crucial to the persistence of species-rich mutualistic assemblages, mainly because they support other species and shape the network organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, 91070 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Nubia Lara-Rodríguez
- Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad (CIBIO), Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
| | - Pedro Jordano
- Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Paulo R Guimarães
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil
| | - John N Thompson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Robert J Marquis
- Department of Biology and the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri-St Louis, St Louis, MO 63121-4499, USA
| | - Lucas P Medeiros
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Raul Ortiz-Pulido
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo 42001, Mexico
| | - Maria A Marcos-García
- Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad (CIBIO), Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
| | - Victor Rico-Gray
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, 91190 Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
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22
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Fagundes R, Dáttilo W, Ribeiro SP, Rico-Gray V, Jordano P, Del-Claro K. Differences among ant species in plant protection are related to production of extrafloral nectar and degree of leaf herbivory. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R Fagundes
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas e da Natureza, Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira, Acarape, Ceará, Brasil
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - W Dáttilo
- Red de Ecoetologia, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - S P Ribeiro
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - V Rico-Gray
- Instituto de Neuroetologia, Univesidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - P Jordano
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, EDB-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
| | - K Del-Claro
- Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil
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Costa FV, Mello MAR, Bronstein JL, Guerra TJ, Muylaert RL, Leite AC, Neves FS. Few Ant Species Play a Central Role Linking Different Plant Resources in a Network in Rupestrian Grasslands. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167161. [PMID: 27911919 PMCID: PMC5135051 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2016] [Accepted: 11/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Ant-plant associations are an outstanding model to study the entangled ecological interactions that structure communities. However, most studies of plant-animal networks focus on only one type of resource that mediates these interactions (e.g, nectar or fruits), leading to a biased understanding of community structure. New approaches, however, have made possible to study several interaction types simultaneously through multilayer networks models. Here, we use this approach to ask whether the structural patterns described to date for ant-plant networks hold when multiple interactions with plant-derived food rewards are considered. We tested whether networks characterized by different resource types differ in specialization and resource partitioning among ants, and whether the identity of the core ant species is similar among resource types. We monitored ant interactions with extrafloral nectaries, flowers, and fruits, as well as trophobiont hemipterans feeding on plants, for one year, in seven rupestrian grassland (campo rupestre) sites in southeastern Brazil. We found a highly tangled ant-plant network in which plants offering different resource types are connected by a few central ant species. The multilayer network had low modularity and specialization, but ant specialization and niche overlap differed according to the type of resource used. Beyond detecting structural differences across networks, our study demonstrates empirically that the core of most central ant species is similar across them. We suggest that foraging strategies of ant species, such as massive recruitment, may determine specialization and resource partitioning in ant-plant interactions. As this core of ant species is involved in multiple ecosystem functions, it may drive the diversity and evolution of the entire campo rupestre community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernanda V. Costa
- Graduate School in Ecology, Conservation, and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marco A. R. Mello
- Graduate School in Ecology, Conservation, and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Judith L. Bronstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Tadeu J. Guerra
- Department of Botany, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Renata L. Muylaert
- Department of Ecology, São Paulo State University (UNESP), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alice C. Leite
- Graduate School in Ecology, Conservation, and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Frederico S. Neves
- Graduate School in Ecology, Conservation, and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Ramos-Robles M, Andresen E, Díaz-Castelazo C. Temporal changes in the structure of a plant-frugivore network are influenced by bird migration and fruit availability. PeerJ 2016; 4:e2048. [PMID: 27330852 PMCID: PMC4906665 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background. Ecological communities are dynamic collections whose composition and structure change over time, making up complex interspecific interaction networks. Mutualistic plant–animal networks can be approached through complex network analysis; these networks are characterized by a nested structure consisting of a core of generalist species, which endows the network with stability and robustness against disturbance. Those mutualistic network structures can vary as a consequence of seasonal fluctuations and food availability, as well as the arrival of new species into the system that might disorder the mutualistic network structure (e.g., a decrease in nested pattern). However, there is no assessment on how the arrival of migratory species into seasonal tropical systems can modify such patterns. Emergent and fine structural temporal patterns are adressed here for the first time for plant-frugivorous bird networks in a highly seasonal tropical environment. Methods. In a plant-frugivorous bird community, we analyzed the temporal turnover of bird species comprising the network core and periphery of ten temporal interaction networks resulting from different bird migration periods. Additionally, we evaluated how fruit abundance and richness, as well as the arrival of migratory birds into the system, explained the temporal changes in network parameters such as network size, connectance, nestedness, specialization, interaction strength asymmetry and niche overlap. The analysis included data from 10 quantitative plant-frugivorous bird networks registered from November 2013 to November 2014. Results. We registered a total of 319 interactions between 42 plant species and 44 frugivorous bird species; only ten bird species were part of the network core. We witnessed a noteworthy turnover of the species comprising the network periphery during migration periods, as opposed to the network core, which did not show significant temporal changes in species composition. Our results revealed that migration and fruit richness explain the temporal variations in network size, connectance, nestedness and interaction strength asymmetry. On the other hand, fruit abundance only explained connectance and nestedness. Discussion. By means of a fine-resolution temporal analysis, we evidenced for the first time how temporal changes in the interaction network structure respond to the arrival of migratory species into the system and to fruit availability. Additionally, few migratory bird species are important links for structuring networks, while most of them were peripheral species. We showed the relevance of studying bird–plant interactions at fine temporal scales, considering changing scenarios of species composition with a quantitative network approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Ramos-Robles
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología, A. C. Xalapa , Veracruz , México
| | - Ellen Andresen
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Morelia , Michoacán , México
| | - Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo
- Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología, A. C. Xalapa , Veracruz , México
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25
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Structure of mutualistic ant–treehopper interactions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467416000183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Abstract:Ant–treehopper mutualisms are centred on the availability of honeydew, a sugary fluid offered by treehoppers to attract ants, which respond by defending their hosts against predators and parasitoids. However, due to differences in the treehopper social behaviour (i.e. the amount of food resource available) ants can monopolize treehopper aggregations in many ways. Here we evaluated the topological structure of quantitative ant–treehopper interaction networks in three Brazilian Atlantic Forest localities. Moreover, we specifically investigated the role of ant recruitment strategy and treehopper behaviour in the structure of these networks. For this, we sampled ant–treehopper interactions along representative transects (6 km per site) within each studied site and recorded the mean number of individuals of treehopper and ant species. We found that independent of variation in environmental factors among study sites, ant–treehopper networks were highly compartmentalized (Mean ± SD: Q = 0.34 ± 0.1) when compared with null models, and exhibit low connectance (C = 0.18 ± 0.01) and specialization (H2’ = 0.36 ± 0.08) values. In addition, we also observed that larger aggregations of treehoppers interacted with a higher number of ant species and ants that were locally dominant and showed massive recruitment interacted with a larger number of treehopper species. In summary, our results illustrate the importance of foraging strategies in shaping ecological interactions in tropical environments.
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Dáttilo W, Fagundes R, Gurka CAQ, Silva MSA, Vieira MCL, Izzo TJ, Díaz-Castelazo C, Del-Claro K, Rico-Gray V. Individual-based ant-plant networks: diurnal-nocturnal structure and species-area relationship. PLoS One 2014; 9:e99838. [PMID: 24918750 PMCID: PMC4053393 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0099838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2014] [Accepted: 05/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley Dáttilo
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
- * E-mail:
| | - Roberth Fagundes
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Interações, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil
- Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kleber Del-Claro
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Interações, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil
| | - Victor Rico-Gray
- Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
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