干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Ant Guild Identity Determines Seed Fate at the Post-Removal Seed Dispersal Stages of a Desert Perennial

Arid

DOI	10.3390/insects12020147
	Ant Guild Identity Determines Seed Fate at the Post-Removal Seed Dispersal Stages of a Desert Perennial
	Ben-Zvi, Gilad; Seifan, Merav; Giladi, Itamar
通讯作者	Giladi, I (corresponding author), Ben Gurion Univ Negev, Swiss Inst Dryland Environm & Energy Res, Jacob Blaustein Inst Desert Res, Mitrani Dept Desert Ecol, Sede Boqer Campus, IL-8499000 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel.
来源期刊	INSECTS
EISSN	2075-4450
出版年	2021
卷号	12 期号:2
英文摘要	Simple Summary Ants play a dual role in their interaction with plant seeds. Many ant species, mainly harvester ants, consume plant seeds (granivory), whereas other ants, mainly scavengers, provide a beneficial seed dispersal service. Granivory by ants is frequently documented in deserts, but beneficial seed dispersal is rarely studied in such ecosystems. We followed the handling of seeds of Sternbergia clusiana, an ant-dispersed plant, by two guilds of desert ants. We focused on the treatment of seeds within the nest and on the redispersal of seeds after ejection from the nest. Scavenging ants rarely consumed the seed itself, they deposited most seeds away from the nest in apparently suitable microhabitats. In addition, we found that most of the seeds that were relocated by scavenging ants arrived at sites under the canopy of shrubs. Such sites might be beneficial for the establishment and success of plants in the arid environment. Indeed, we found that the subject plant was more likely to be found under shrubs than elsewhere, which suggests that it benefits from being placed there. Such documentation of seed dispersal activity by scavenging ants in arid ecosystems suggests they may be efficient seed dispersers in deserts, as they are in other ecosystems. Ants play a dual role in their interaction with plant seeds. In deserts, the consumption of seeds by granivorous ants is common, whereas mutualistic seed dispersal, often associated with scavenging ants, is rarely documented. We evaluated the contribution of both ant guilds to efficient seed dispersal of an ant-dispersed plant, Sternbergia clusiana, in a desert ecosystem. We presented seed to colonies of three species of desert ants from the Cataglyphis (scavengers) and Messor (granivorous) genera. We recorded seed consumption, ejection from the nest, and seed transportation to potentially beneficial microhabitats. We evaluated microhabitat quality by testing the association between habitat types and the plant at various life stages. As expected, granivores mainly consumed the seeds, whereas scavengers consumed the elaiosome (seed appendage serving as a reward), but left the seeds intact. Moreover, scavenging ants relocated the seeds much further than granivores, mainly to shrub patches. The disproportional distribution of the plant under shrubs at several life stages suggests that this microhabitat is beneficial for the plant. Overall, while granivores seem to mainly harm seed dispersal, we provide the first evidence for the beneficial contribution of scavenging ants in deserts, showing they exhibit the same suite of characteristics that render them efficient seed dispersers in other ecosystems.
英文关键词	granivorous ants scavenger ants elaiosomes seed redispersal Sternbergia clusiana Messor sp Cataglyphis sp directed dispersal
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	Green Published, gold
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000622614900001
WOS类目	Entomology
WOS研究方向	Entomology
来源机构	Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/350557
作者单位	[Ben-Zvi, Gilad] Ben Gurion Univ Negev, Albert Katz Int Sch Desert Studies, Jacob Blaustein Inst Desert Res, Sede Boqer Campus, IL-8499000 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel; [Ben-Zvi, Gilad; Seifan, Merav; Giladi, Itamar] Ben Gurion Univ Negev, Swiss Inst Dryland Environm & Energy Res, Jacob Blaustein Inst Desert Res, Mitrani Dept Desert Ecol, Sede Boqer Campus, IL-8499000 Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Ben-Zvi, Gilad,Seifan, Merav,Giladi, Itamar. Ant Guild Identity Determines Seed Fate at the Post-Removal Seed Dispersal Stages of a Desert Perennial[J]. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,2021,12(2).
APA	Ben-Zvi, Gilad,Seifan, Merav,&Giladi, Itamar.(2021).Ant Guild Identity Determines Seed Fate at the Post-Removal Seed Dispersal Stages of a Desert Perennial.INSECTS,12(2).
MLA	Ben-Zvi, Gilad,et al."Ant Guild Identity Determines Seed Fate at the Post-Removal Seed Dispersal Stages of a Desert Perennial".INSECTS 12.2(2021).