Knowledge Resource Center for Ecological Environment in Arid Area
DOI | 10.1111/aec.12519 |
Does the morphology of animal foraging pits influence secondary seed dispersal by ants? | |
Radnan, Gabriella N.; Eldridge, David J. | |
通讯作者 | Radnan, Gabriella N. |
来源期刊 | AUSTRAL ECOLOGY
![]() |
ISSN | 1442-9985 |
EISSN | 1442-9993 |
出版年 | 2017 |
卷号 | 42期号:8页码:920-928 |
英文摘要 | Secondary seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) is an important process in semi-arid environments where seeds are transported from the soil surface to an ant nest. Microsites from which ants often remove seeds are the small pits and depressions made by native and exotic animals that forage in the soil. Previous studies have demonstrated greater seed retention in the pits of native than exotic animals, but little is known about how biotic factors such as secondary seed dispersal by ants affect seed removal and therefore retention in these foraging pits. We used an experimental approach to examine how the morphology of burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur), greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) foraging pits and ant body size influenced ant locomotion and seed removal from pits along an aridity gradient. Ants took 3.7-times longer to emerge from echidna pits (19.6s) and six-times longer to emerge from bettong pits (30.5s) than from rabbit pits (5.2s), resulting in lower seed removal from bettong pits than other pit types. Fewer seeds were removed from pits when cages were used to exclude large body-sized (>2mm) ants. Few seeds were removed from the pits or surface up to aridity values of 0.5 (humid and dry sub-humid), but removal increased rapidly in semi-arid and arid zones. Our study demonstrates that mammal foraging pit morphology significantly affects ant locomotion, the ability of ants to retrieve seeds, and therefore the likelihood that seeds will be retained within foraging pits. |
英文关键词 | ant-plant interaction foraging pit myrmecochory seed dispersal seed fate |
类型 | Article |
语种 | 英语 |
国家 | Australia |
收录类别 | SCI-E |
WOS记录号 | WOS:000416435500005 |
WOS关键词 | LEAF-CUTTER ANTS ; LOAD SIZE SELECTION ; ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES ; DESERT ; MYRMECOCHORY ; LOCOMOTION ; ENERGETICS ; PATTERNS ; MODELS ; CAMPONOTUS |
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/2XILL650/197727 |
作者单位 | Univ New South Wales, Ctr Ecosyst Sci, Sch Biol Earth & Environm Sci, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Radnan, Gabriella N.,Eldridge, David J.. Does the morphology of animal foraging pits influence secondary seed dispersal by ants?[J],2017,42(8):920-928. |
APA | Radnan, Gabriella N.,&Eldridge, David J..(2017).Does the morphology of animal foraging pits influence secondary seed dispersal by ants?.AUSTRAL ECOLOGY,42(8),920-928. |
MLA | Radnan, Gabriella N.,et al."Does the morphology of animal foraging pits influence secondary seed dispersal by ants?".AUSTRAL ECOLOGY 42.8(2017):920-928. |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
除非特别说明,本系统中所有内容都受版权保护,并保留所有权利。