Arid
DOI10.1111/j.1442-9993.2004.01390.x
Unexpected relationships and valuable mistakes: non-myrmecochorous Prosopis dispersed by messy leafcutting ants in harvesting their seeds
Milesi, FA; De Casenave, JL
通讯作者Milesi, FA
来源期刊AUSTRAL ECOLOGY
ISSN1442-9985
EISSN1442-9993
出版年2004
卷号29期号:5页码:558-567
英文摘要

Ants generally disperse seeds while feeding on fruits or structures attached to the seed. Seed dispersal as a by-product of seed predation (dyszoochory) was recognized in specialized harvester ants, but not in ants predating seeds opportunistically. Leafcutting ants are the main herbivores in much of the Neotropics, and they have been reported to remove fruits and seeds, but their role as seed predators and dispersers has not been acknowledged. Prosopis flexuosa D.C. (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) is the most abundant tree species in the central Monte Desert, Argentina, and it is likely to depend on secondary animal dispersal. Mammalian frugivores are usually considered its main dispersers, but the opportunity for dispersal may be small since the removal of fruits and seeds by seed predators is very intense. The objective of this study was to identify which ant species interact with P. flexuosa fruits and to evaluate their relative importance as seed predators and dispersers. In a field experiment, whole and segmented pods were offered and several ant species exploiting the fruits were identified. Additionally, all pod segments remaining around nests of the three ant species able to remove them (the leafcutters Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery and Acromyrmex striatus Roger, and Pheidole bergi Mayr) were examined during and after the P. flexuosa primary dispersal season. Up to 753 pod segments and 90 sound seeds were found accumulated in a circle of 1 m radius over nests of A. lobicornis, and even more in an examined trail. Acromyrmex striatus left a smaller proportion of sound seeds and P bergi left a smaller number of pod segments. All tendencies were similar during shorter known periods of accumulation. Leafcutting ants are acting as important seed predators, and ’by mistake’ may be dispersing a key non-myrmecochorous tree. This is an unexplored path in the seed dispersal cycle of P. flexuosa that challenges the tendency to predict interactions based on classifications made with other goals.


英文关键词Acromyrmex algarrobo leafcutters Monte Desert seed dispersal
类型Article
语种英语
国家Argentina
收录类别SCI-E
WOS记录号WOS:000224619800008
WOS关键词MONTE DESERT ; FLEXUOSA FABACEAE ; SOUTHEAST BRAZIL ; L. MIMOSACEAE ; ARGENTINA ; GERMINATION ; PREDATION ; GRANIVORY ; RODENTS ; FOREST
WOS类目Ecology
WOS研究方向Environmental Sciences & Ecology
资源类型期刊论文
条目标识符http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/146296
作者单位(1)Univ Buenos Aires, Fac Ciencias Exactas & Nat, Dept Ecol Genet & Evoluc, Buenos Aires C1428EHA, DF, Argentina
推荐引用方式
GB/T 7714
Milesi, FA,De Casenave, JL. Unexpected relationships and valuable mistakes: non-myrmecochorous Prosopis dispersed by messy leafcutting ants in harvesting their seeds[J],2004,29(5):558-567.
APA Milesi, FA,&De Casenave, JL.(2004).Unexpected relationships and valuable mistakes: non-myrmecochorous Prosopis dispersed by messy leafcutting ants in harvesting their seeds.AUSTRAL ECOLOGY,29(5),558-567.
MLA Milesi, FA,et al."Unexpected relationships and valuable mistakes: non-myrmecochorous Prosopis dispersed by messy leafcutting ants in harvesting their seeds".AUSTRAL ECOLOGY 29.5(2004):558-567.
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