Extrafloral nectary plants not only occur in natural areas but also in urban parks. These areas are prone to edge effects, and plants face different microenvironmental conditions. We investigated the spatial variation of ant–plant interactions in an urban park, and we examined if plants with ants would show lower herbivory levels and if it depended on habitat type (interior or edges). Seedlings of Inga laurina were set in 200-m long transects (which covered both the west and east edges, and the interior) in an urban park and then experimentally assigned to be either ant-present or ant-excluded plants. Leaf herbivory was investigated throughout the wet season and was influenced by the interaction effect between ants and habitat type. Ants decreased the herbivory on the west edge, but on the east edge results were the opposite. The east edge had higher temperature and sunlight exposure in comparison to the other sites and was assumed to disrupt the stability of ant–plant interactions. In the interior of the fragment, herbivory depended on ant presence/absence and on the location of plants along the transect. Our study highlights how the outcomes of ant–plant interactions are spatially conditioned and affected by different types of habitats.
Extrafloral nectaried plants and myrmecophytes offer resources to ants that may engage in protective mutualisms. The role of different ant species in herbivore deterrence has long been analyzed by using herbivore baits, and ants are regarded as effective plant guards if they attack and/or remove the baits (mostly termites) from plants. Here, we conducted a comparative investigation on which ants display aggression toward baits, which ants are better plant guards, and which plants (extrafloral nectaried plants or myrmecophytes) are better defended by ants. Data from the literature revealed that baiting studies have been performed on 37 extrafloral nectaried plant species and 19 myrmecophytes, and have involved over 30 genera of ants. Extrafloral nectaried plants and myrmecophytes rely on specific ant fauna to defend them from herbivores. In extrafloral nectaried plants,CamponotusandCrematogasterwere regarded as the best plant protectors, as they attacked baits in nearly all plants. In myrmecophytes,Azteca, PheidoleandPseudomyrmexwere the most important bait attackers. Myrmecophytes were better protected by ants, as all baits were attacked; in extrafloral nectaried plants, some ants failed to attack the baits. Plants can be patrolled by several different ants, but there is a core of ants that excel in protection, and this varies according to plant type (extrafloral nectaried plants and myrmecophytes). With this knowledge, it may be possible to label different ants as effective plant guards, to anticipate their effects on plant performance and even to understand their potential role as biological control agents.
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