Ant-plant associations in different forests in Venezuela.
Neotrop Entomol
; 38(1): 753-77, 2009.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19347094
We evaluated the hypothesis that the abundance and species distribution of two different kinds of myrmecophilous plants is influenced differently by the ant diversity and abundance. In eight different natural forests in Venezuela we estimated the species richness and abundance of plants, ants on the soil and on the canopy, the leaf damage of plants and soil nutrients. The main results of the study show that plants with domatia (PD) and plants with extrafloral nectaries (PEFN) have different relationships with ants and suffer from different ecological constraints. PD attract a more specific group of ants than PEFN. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that domatia are adaptations that help plants to increase rare nutrient uptake rather than for herbivore defense. We found that PEFN attract a larger variety of ant species than PD, and ant abundance seems to limit the ecological range of PEFN. The attraction of ants as a mechanism to reduce herbivory, as done by PEFN, does not seem to be superior to alternative anti-herbivore mechanisms used by other plants. Contrary to many former studies, we found that ants are generally more diverse on the soil compared to canopies.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Formigas
/
Árvores
/
Ecossistema
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Venezuela
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Neotrop Entomol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2009
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Venezuela
País de publicação:
Holanda