scholarly journals Nectar quality affects ant aggressiveness and biotic defense provided to plants

Biotropica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio T. Pacelhe ◽  
Fernanda V. Costa ◽  
Frederico S. Neves ◽  
Judith Bronstein ◽  
Marco A. R. Mello
Keyword(s):  
Biotic Defense ◽  
Ant Aggressiveness

scholarly journals Relative contribution of ecological and biological attributes in the fine-grain structure of ant-plant networks

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo ◽  
Victor Rico-Gray
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Heterogeneity ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Grain Structure ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Generalist Species ◽  
Facultative Mutualism ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
Biotic Defense ◽  
Fine Grain

Background. Ecological communities of interacting species analyzed as complex networks, revealed that species dependence on their counterpart is more complex than expected at random. For ant-plant networks (mediated by extrafloral nectar), links among species are asymmetric (nested), forming a core of generalist species. Proposed factors affecting network organization include encounter probability (species abundances, habitat heterogeneity), behavior, phylogeny and body size. While the importance of underlying factors that influence structure of ant-plant networks have been separately explored, simultaneous contribution of several biological and ecological attributes inherent to the species, guild or habitat level have not been addressed. Methods. For a tropical seasonal site we recorded frequency of pairwise ant-plant interactions mediated by extrafloral nectaries, attributes of interacting species, habitat attributes, cover of plants with EFNs, 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, studying the simultaneous contribution of several plant, ant, and habitat attributes in prevailing interactions as well as in overall network topology (community). Results. Our studied network was highly-nested, non-modular, with core species in general having high species strengths (higher strength values for ants than plants) and low specialization; plants had higher dependences on their counterparts. The significant factor explaining network and fine-grain structure was habitat heterogeneity in vegetation structure (open vs. shaded habitats), with no evidence of neutral (abundance) effects. Discussion. Core ant species are relevant to most plants species at the network, the latter depending more on the former, core ants showing adaptations to nectar consumption and deterrent behavior, suggestive of potential biotic defense at a community scale. At our study site spatiotemporal heterogeneity is so strong, that emerges at community-level structural properties, depicting influence of abiotic factors in facultative mutualism. Frequent occurrence of morphologically-diverse EFNs at all habitats suggests plasticity in plant strategies for biotic defense provided by ants.

scholarly journals Calcium signaling and biotic defense responses in plants

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e973818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Liqun Du ◽  
B.W. Poovaiah
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Signaling ◽  
Defense Responses ◽  
Biotic Defense

scholarly journals The dear enemy effect drives conspecific aggressiveness in an Azteca-Cecropia system

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Zorzal ◽  
Flávio Camarota ◽  
Marcondes Dias ◽  
Diogo M. Vidal ◽  
Eraldo Lima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cuticular Hydrocarbon ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Accurate Identification ◽  
Dear Enemy ◽  
Neighbor Effect ◽  
Dear Enemy Effect ◽  
Behavioral Trials ◽  
Ant Aggressiveness

AbstractTerritoriality is costly, and the accurate identification of intruders and the decision to perform aggressive responses are key behavioral traits in social animals. We studied aggression among individuals belonging to close and distant nests of the plant-ant Azteca muelleri, which lives in stems of the pioneer tree Cecropia glaziovii. More specifically, we aim to investigate if the DE (dear-enemy effect—less aggression towards neighbors than strangers) or NN (nasty-neighbor effect—less aggression to strangers than neighbors) effects or even none of them apply for this iconic Azteca-Cecropia system. We further checked if ant aggression towards conspecifics is related to cuticular hydrocarbon profiles (CHCs), which provide chemical cues for nestmate recognition. Therefore, we sampled 46 nests of A. muelleri in three Brazilian Atlantic forest fragments and performed behavioral trials within and between sites. Consistently with the DE effect, we found higher aggression levels in ‘between sites’ versus ‘within sites’ treatments as well as a positive effect of spatial distance on ant aggressiveness. We found no effect of the overall dissimilarities on CHC blend on ant aggressiveness, but of one CHC class, the methylated alkanes. Overall, we provide key insights on nest-mate recognition in obligatory ant-plant mutualisms.

scholarly journals Calmodulin-binding transcription activator (CAMTA) 3 mediates biotic defense responses inArabidopsis

FEBS Letters ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 582 (6) ◽  
pp. 943-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Galon ◽  
Roy Nave ◽  
Joy M. Boyce ◽  
Dikla Nachmias ◽  
Marc R. Knight ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Defense Responses ◽  
Transcription Activator ◽  
Calmodulin Binding ◽  
Biotic Defense

scholarly journals I Can See You: Temporal Variation in Ant Aggressiveness Towards Herbivores under Continuous Provision of High- or Low-quality Food Sources

Sociobiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
João Carlos De Castro Pena ◽  
Pedro Luna ◽  
Felipe Aoki-Gonçalves ◽  
María Fernanda Chávez Jacobo ◽  
TAMARA MARTÍNEZ PATIÑO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attack Rate ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Extrafloral Nectar ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Quality Food ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Ant Aggressiveness

To reduce herbivory, plants bearing extrafloral nectaries interact with ants and attract them by providing food. As plant bodyguards, ants respond to the resource provision and, using their antennae, detect chemical messages from the host plants that help them to locate herbivores. Ants can also use their vision to explore the environment; however, information is lacking on how interactions between visual signs and the availability of extrafloral nectar affect ant aggressiveness near resources. We addressed the following question in this study: does the ants’ ability to visualize potential herbivores enhance their aggression under a constant provision of a high-quality food source? Using an experimental approach within the semiarid intertropical region of Tehuacan-Cuicatlán (Mexico), we manipulated the availability of food sources by constantly offering artificial nectaries on the shrub Prosopis laevigata (Fabaceae). Over two time periods (day and night), we tested how the presence of a high-quality food source affected ant aggressiveness to herbivores. Therefore, we offered dummy caterpillars and counted the number of marks left by enemy attacks. Overall the attack rate was extremely high: 84.25% of the dummy caterpillars were injured. Ants were responsible for 86.22% of the marks left by enemies, and their aggression increased during the day, especially towards caterpillars in trees with high-quality food sources. During the night, ants probably rely mostly on their antennae to detect potential herbivores; therefore, their ability to detect dummy caterpillars was greater during the day. We show that, besides nectar quality and availability, visualizing herbivores may enhance ant aggressiveness. 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document