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De Medeiros BAS, Núñez-Avellaneda LA, Hernandez AM, Farrell BD. Flower visitors of the licuri palm (Syagrus coronata): brood pollinators coexist with a diverse community of antagonists and mutualists. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno A S De Medeiros
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Alyssa M Hernandez
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Brian D Farrell
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Miler K, Yahya BE, Czarnoleski M. Pro-social behaviour of ants depends on their ecological niche-Rescue actions in species from tropical and temperate regions. Behav Processes 2017; 144:1-4. [PMID: 28843392 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2017.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Some ants display rescue behaviour, which is performed by nearby nestmates and directed at individuals in danger. Here, using several ant species, we demonstrate that rescue behaviour expression matches predicted occurrences based on certain aspects of species' ecological niches. Rescue occurred in sand-dwelling ants exposed both to co-occurring antlion larvae, representing the threat of being captured by a predator, and to nest cave-ins, representing the threat of being trapped in a collapsed nest chamber. Rescue also occurred in forest groundcover ants exposed to certain entrapment situations. However, rescue never occurred in species associated with open plains, which nest in hardened soils and forage largely on herbaceous plants, or in ants living in close mutualistic relationships with their host plants. In addition, because we tested each species in two types of tests, antlion larva capture tests and artificial entrapment tests, we highlight the importance of accounting for test context in studying rescue behaviour expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krzysztof Miler
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Poland.
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Plowman NS, Hood ASC, Moses J, Redmond C, Novotny V, Klimes P, Fayle TM. Network reorganization and breakdown of an ant-plant protection mutualism with elevation. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:rspb.2016.2564. [PMID: 28298349 PMCID: PMC5360921 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 12/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Both the abiotic environment and the composition of animal and plant communities change with elevation. For mutualistic species, these changes are expected to result in altered partner availability, and shifts in context-dependent benefits for partners. To test these predictions, we assessed the network structure of terrestrial ant-plant mutualists and how the benefits to plants of ant inhabitation changed with elevation in tropical forest in Papua New Guinea. At higher elevations, ant-plants were rarer, species richness of both ants and plants decreased, and the average ant or plant species interacted with fewer partners. However, networks became increasingly connected and less specialized, more than could be accounted for by reductions in ant-plant abundance. On the most common ant-plant, ants recruited less and spent less time attacking a surrogate herbivore at higher elevations, and herbivory damage increased. These changes were driven by turnover of ant species rather than by within-species shifts in protective behaviour. We speculate that reduced partner availability at higher elevations results in less specialized networks, while lower temperatures mean that even for ant-inhabited plants, benefits are reduced. Under increased abiotic stress, mutualistic networks can break down, owing to a combination of lower population sizes, and a reduction in context-dependent mutualistic benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nichola S Plowman
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic .,Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Amelia S C Hood
- New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea.,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jimmy Moses
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea.,University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
| | - Conor Redmond
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Vojtech Novotny
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Petr Klimes
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Tom M Fayle
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.,New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Madang, Papua New Guinea
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Reduced damage and epiphyll cover of leaves of Korthalsia rattans that host Camponotus ants in the rain forest of Malaysian Borneo. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467416000316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Abstract:Many species of palm produce chambers called domatia that are used by ants as nesting spaces. However, the ecological nature of this association is not well understood, and the information on palm–ant interactions is primarily anecdotal. Here, we conducted a field study in the secondary forest of the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Malaysian Borneo, on 41 individuals of the rattan Korthalsia furtadoana. All studied plants showed signs of a past or present partnership with domatia-nesting ants, as indicated by entry holes in domatia. In 14 plants, our physical disturbance of a stem provoked the appearance of patrolling ants of Camponotus sp. We compared the leaf conditions of rattans with and without patrolling ants, testing whether the presence of ants is linked to improved leaf health. The leaflets of plants with patrolling ants were significantly less physically damaged and less covered by epiphylls. On average, 19% of the leaflets of plants with patrolling ants were damaged (52% in plants without patrolling ants), and the epiphyll cover of their leaflets was 0.2 on our scale of 0–4 (1.3 in plants without patrolling ants). Our results suggest that this poorly studied plant–ant association has a mutualistic character. It seems that the ants take advantage of the nesting space created by the plant partner, while the plants gain protection for their photosynthetic apparatus against herbivores and epiphylls.
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Campbell H, Fellowes MDE, Cook JM. The Curious Case of the Camelthorn: Competition, Coexistence, and Nest-Site Limitation in a Multispecies Mutualism. Am Nat 2015; 186:E172-81. [PMID: 26655993 DOI: 10.1086/683462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Myrmecophyte plants house ants within domatia in exchange for protection against herbivores. Ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms exhibit two general patterns due to competition between ants for plant occupancy: (i) domatia nest sites are a limiting resource and (ii) each individual plant hosts one ant species at a time. However, individual camelthorn trees (Vachellia erioloba) typically host two to four ant species simultaneously, often coexisting in adjacent domatia on the same branch. Such fine-grain spatial coexistence brings into question the conventional wisdom on ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms. Camelthorn ants appear not to be nest-site limited, despite low abundance of suitable domatia, and have random distributions of nest sites within and across trees. These patterns suggest a lack of competition between ants for domatia and contrast strongly with other ant-myrmecophyte systems. Comparison of this unusual case with others suggests that spatial scale is crucial to coexistence or competitive exclusion involving multiple ant species. Furthermore, coexistence may be facilitated when co-occurring ant species diverge strongly on at least one niche axis. Our conclusions provide recommendations for future ant-myrmecophyte research, particularly in utilizing multispecies systems to further our understanding of mutualism biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather Campbell
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, United Kingdom
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Temporary sterilization behavior of mutualistic partner ants in a Southeast Asian myrmecophyte. Ecol Res 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s11284-014-1161-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Malé PJG, Ferdy JB, Leroy C, Roux O, Lauth J, Avilez A, Dejean A, Quilichini A, Orivel J. Retaliation in Response to Castration Promotes a Low Level of Virulence in an Ant–Plant Mutualism. Evol Biol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-013-9242-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Campbell H, Townsend IR, Fellowes MDE, Cook JM. Thorn-dwelling ants provide antiherbivore defence for camelthorn trees,Vachellia erioloba, in Namibia. Afr J Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/aje.12070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Heather Campbell
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Reading; Reading RG6 6AS U.K
| | - Ian R. Townsend
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Reading; Reading RG6 6AS U.K
| | | | - James M. Cook
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Reading; Reading RG6 6AS U.K
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Grman E. Plant species differ in their ability to reduce allocation to non‐beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Ecology 2012; 93:711-8. [DOI: 10.1890/11-1358.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emily Grman
- W. K. Kellogg Biological Station and Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA
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Althoff DM, Segraves KA, Smith CI, Leebens-Mack J, Pellmyr O. Geographic isolation trumps coevolution as a driver of yucca and yucca moth diversification. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2012; 62:898-906. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2011] [Revised: 11/07/2011] [Accepted: 11/26/2011] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Range expansion induces variation in a behavioural trait in an ant–plant mutualism. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2011.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Vantaux A, Parmentier T, Billen J, Wenseleers T. Do Lasius niger ants punish low-quality black bean aphid mutualists? Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.10.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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Fayle TM, Edwards DP, Turner EC, Dumbrell AJ, Eggleton P, Foster WA. Public goods, public services and by-product mutualism in an ant-fern symbiosis. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.20062.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Yusah KM, Fayle TM, Harris G, Foster WA. Optimizing Diversity Assessment Protocols for High Canopy Ants in Tropical Rain Forest. Biotropica 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2011.00775.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Fayle TM, Turner EC, Snaddon JL, Chey VK, Chung AY, Eggleton P, Foster WA. Oil palm expansion into rain forest greatly reduces ant biodiversity in canopy, epiphytes and leaf-litter. Basic Appl Ecol 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2009.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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