干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Harvester ants reduce seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass, a rare mustard endemic to Idaho

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DOI	10.3398/064.080.0405
	Harvester ants reduce seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass, a rare mustard endemic to Idaho
	Brown, Jennifer A.; Robertson, Ian C.
通讯作者	Robertson, IC (corresponding author), Boise State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, 1910 Univ Dr, Boise, ID 83725 USA.
来源期刊	WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST
ISSN	1527-0904
EISSN	1944-8341
出版年	2020
卷号	80 期号:4 页码:483-491
英文摘要	Seed predation can significantly reduce the reproductive success of individual plants and their populations. The consequences of seed predation often are most pronounced for rare plant species, in which loss of seeds can have a disproportionate effect on populations. The present study examined the effects of seed predation by Owyhee harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex salinus) on seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum), a rare mustard endemic to sagebrush-steppe habitat in southwestern Idaho. Within sagebrush-steppe, L. papilliferum is restricted to microsites known as slick spots-shallow depressions of soil characterized by distinct clay layers and surface water retention that is higher than that of surrounding areas. Harvester ants frequently nest in L. papilliferum habitat and readily consume the plant's seeds. We conducted a controlled field experiment at a population of L. papilliferum in 2012 to quantify seed loss to individual plants as a result of seed predation by harvester ants. Across 20 slick spots, plants exposed to harvester ants experienced a median reduction in seed survivorship of 89.2% (interquartile range, 69.3% to 93.9%) relative to plants in the same slick spot that were matched for size and shielded from ants. The proportion of seeds that plants lost to seed predation was more variable and significantly lower in slick spots with >150 plants than in those with fewer plants, suggesting that a threshold to the number of seeds that can be collected and consumed by ants may occur within the natural range of plant densities found in slick spots. Our results suggest that slick spots supporting large numbers of L. papilliferum in a given year may be buffered from the effects of predation, whereas those with relatively few plants are particularly vulnerable to high levels of seed loss to harvester ants.
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Green Published
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000617763800005
WOS关键词	HYMENOPTERA ; FORMICIDAE ; PREDATION ; DESERT ; ECOLOGY ; PREFERENCES ; RESOURCES ; DENSITIES ; COMMUNITY ; ECOSYSTEM
WOS类目	Biodiversity Conservation ; Ecology
WOS研究方向	Biodiversity & Conservation ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/349234
作者单位	[Brown, Jennifer A.; Robertson, Ian C.] Boise State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, 1910 Univ Dr, Boise, ID 83725 USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Brown, Jennifer A.,Robertson, Ian C.. Harvester ants reduce seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass, a rare mustard endemic to Idaho[J],2020,80(4):483-491.
APA	Brown, Jennifer A.,&Robertson, Ian C..(2020).Harvester ants reduce seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass, a rare mustard endemic to Idaho.WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST,80(4),483-491.
MLA	Brown, Jennifer A.,et al."Harvester ants reduce seed survivorship in slickspot peppergrass, a rare mustard endemic to Idaho".WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST 80.4(2020):483-491.