Variação espaço-temporal na atividade forrageira da Saúva (Atta laevigata)

Vasconcelos, Heraldo L.

doi:10.1590/1809-43922002321154

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…; Vieira‐Neto, Vasconcelos & Bruna ) – and in the Cerrado, they are aggregated at densities ranging from 0 to 6.7 nests ha −1 (Costa & Vieira‐Neto ). Moreover, the foraging of Atta workers also varies spatially, with foraging concentrated close to foraging trails, while other areas surrounding the nest remain unexplored (Vasconcelos ; Wirth et al . ; Kost et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). Finally, there is also temporal heterogeneity in their foraging, with high harvesting rates in the dry season (Vasconcelos , ; Wirth et al . ; A.N.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Atta colonies are non-randomly distributedthey are more common in successional habitats such as gaps, ecotones and disturbed sites like roads (Vasconcelos & Cherrett 1995;Wirth et al 2007;Meyer, Leal & Wirth 2009;Silva et al 2009;Dohm et al 2011;Vieira-Neto, Vasconcelos & Bruna 2016)and in the Cerrado, they are aggregated at densities ranging from 0 to 6.7 nests ha À1 (Costa & Vieira-Neto 2016). Moreover, the foraging of Atta workers also varies spatially, with foraging concentrated close to foraging trails, while other areas surrounding the nest remain unexplored (Vasconcelos 2002;Wirth et al 2003;Kost et al 2005;Silva et al 2007). Finally, there is also temporal heterogeneity in their foraging, with high harvesting rates in the dry season (Vasconcelos 1997(Vasconcelos , 2002Wirth et al 1997;A.N.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the foraging of Atta workers also varies spatially, with foraging concentrated close to foraging trails, while other areas surrounding the nest remain unexplored (Vasconcelos 2002;Wirth et al 2003;Kost et al 2005;Silva et al 2007). Finally, there is also temporal heterogeneity in their foraging, with high harvesting rates in the dry season (Vasconcelos 1997(Vasconcelos , 2002Wirth et al 1997;A.N. Costa, H.L.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of these foraging trails was used as a reference for choosing the specific locations for the experiments. Foraging activities are mostly concentrated along the trails (Vasconcelos ; Kost et al . ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf‐cutter ants as an ecological filter

2016

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Summary 1.Herbivory has been shown to have prominent top-down effects on vegetation in Paleotropical savannas, where consumers of early stages of life history act as demographic bottlenecks. Such impact has been largely ignored in Neotropical savannas, however, despite insect consumption being linked to reduced recruitment of woody species. 2. We hypothesize that Atta leaf-cutter ants -the prevalent herbivores in the Neotropics -alter the establishment of woody plant seedlings in the Brazilian Cerrado by reducing seed availability and seedling survival. We also hypothesize that the demographic effects will be species-specific. 3. To test these hypotheses, we experimentally (i) compared seed removal in areas with and without Atta foraging and (ii) compared the survivorship of seedlings exposed to or protected from Atta foraging. Both experiments were performed with the same common Cerrado species which allowed us to evaluate the potential net effects of consumers at the population and community levels. 4. Overall seed removal rates in sites with Atta foraging were greater than those where ants were absent (59.2% and 39.2% of seeds removed, respectively). There were differences in removal for 10 of the 12 tested species, with per species removal 1.1-to 3.8-fold greater in areas with Atta foraging. On transplanted plants, 45% of seedlings exposed to Atta were attacked, resulting in a survival 7.6% lower than that of protected seedlings. Seedling survival was 11.8-31.5% lower in five species, with the largest differences in survival between treatments during the dry season. 5. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that consumers can lead to demographic bottlenecks in Neotropical savanna plant species, with effects varying among life-history stages and between species. 6. Synthesis. Granivory by ants has been linked to reduced seedling recruitment of woody species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Our results show that leaf-cutter ants may largely limit early seedling establishment of woody species by reducing seed availability and seedling survival with differential species-specific effects. Atta ants may therefore be acting as an ecological filter, which coupled with potential selectivity in foraging on reproductive life-history stages, may ultimately influence the relative abundance of different species and hence the structure and composition of Cerrado vegetation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). Finally, there is also temporal heterogeneity in their foraging, with high harvesting rates in the dry season (Vasconcelos , ; Wirth et al . ; A.N.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf‐cutter ants as an ecological filter

2016

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Consequences of leaf-cutting ants on plant fitness: integrating negative effects of herbivory and positive effects from soil improvement

Farji‐Brener

Tadey

2016

Insect. Soc.

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Adaptive foraging of leaf‐cutter ants to spatiotemporal changes in resource availability in Neotropical savannas

Costa

Vasconcelos

Vieira‐Neto

et al. 2018

Ecological Entomology

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1. Generalist herbivores feed on a wide and diverse set of species, but fine‐scale foraging patterns may be affected by the interplay between the quality, quantity and spatial distribution of host plants.2. The foraging patterns of a prevalent Neotropical herbivore, the leaf‐cutter ant Atta laevigata, in the Brazilian Cerrado savannas were examined in order to determine if patterns observed are in concert with central‐place foraging predictions.3. The results showed that A. laevigata acts as a polyphagous but highly selective herbivore, with ant attacks often resulting in partial defoliation of less‐preferred species and full defoliation of preferred ones. It was found, for the first time, that there is a strong and positive relationship between the relative attack frequency on plants from preferred species and foraging distance to the nest. This suggests a balance between the quality of plant resources harvested and costs involved in their transportation. It was also observed that colonies focused their harvest on preferred species in months with low availability of young leaves. Consequently, high herbivory rate was more frequent in plants attacked far away from the nest and in dry months.4. These assessments highlight the fact that Atta colonies may become more selective as foraging distance to the nest increases and in response to fluctuations in the availability of palatable resources throughout the year. The results also show some dissimilarities in the foraging behaviours of A. laevigata when compared with other locations, suggesting that widely distributed herbivores may modify foraging strategies across their geographic range.

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Variação espaço-temporal na atividade forrageira da Saúva (Atta laevigata)

Cited by 3 publications

References 14 publications

Biotic drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf‐cutter ants as an ecological filter

Biotic drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf‐cutter ants as an ecological filter

Consequences of leaf-cutting ants on plant fitness: integrating negative effects of herbivory and positive effects from soil improvement

Adaptive foraging of leaf‐cutter ants to spatiotemporal changes in resource availability in Neotropical savannas

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