Acromyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae): patrones de distribución de las especies en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mason, Susana Culebra; Sgarbi, Carolina; Covachina, Jimena Belén Chila; Peña, Juan Marín; Berensztein, Nadia Dubrovsky; Margaría, Cecilia Beatriz; Ricci, M.

doi:10.22179/revmacn.19.483

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…Although armadillos (Bolković, Caziani, & Protomastro, 1995) and foxes (Varela, Cormenzana-Méndez, Krapovickas, & Bucher, 2008) also consume spiny hackberry fruits, the latter typically represent a small amount of their diets. One of the main ant seed dispersers at our study site is the native leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex lundii (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), who are often observed carrying seeds to their nests ( Figure 1c) and are considered fungus farmers (Mason et al, 2017;Mehdiabadi & Schultz, 2010). Interestingly, seeds have no specialized structures to attract ants (elaiosome or other edible appendage attached to the seed), and the reward is presumably represented by the sugary pulp of the fruit (mean sugar concentration 22.5 ± 3.1 °Bx; Palacio et al, 2014) or by the available biomass for fungus growing (i.e.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection on fruit traits is mediated by the interplay between frugivorous birds, fruit flies, parasitoid wasps and seed‐dispersing ants

Palacio

Siepielski

Lacoretz

et al. 2020

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Every organism on Earth must cope with a multitude of species interactions both directly and indirectly throughout its life cycle. However, how selection from multiple species occupying different trophic levels affects diffuse mutualisms has received little attention. As a result, how a given species amalgamates the combined effects of selection from multiple mutualists and antagonists to enhance its own fitness remains little understood. We investigated how multispecies interactions (frugivorous birds, ants, fruit flies and parasitoid wasps) generate selection on fruit traits in a seed dispersal mutualism. We used structural equation models to assess whether seed dispersers (frugivorous birds and ants) exerted phenotypic selection on fruit and seed traits in the spiny hackberry (Celtis ehrenbergiana), a fleshy-fruited tree, and how these selection regimes were influenced by fruit fly infestation and wasp parasitoidism levels. Birds exerted negative correlational selection on the combination of fruit crop size and mean seed weight, favouring either large crops with small seeds or small crops with large seeds. Parasitoids selected plants with higher fruit fly infestation levels, and fruit flies exerted positive directional selection on fruit size, which was positively correlated with seed weight. Therefore, higher parasitoidism indirectly correlated with higher plant fitness through increased bird fruit removal. In addition, ants exerted negative directional selection on mean seed weight. Our results show that strong selection on phenotypic traits may still arise in perceived diffuse species interactions. Overall, we emphasize the need to consider diverse direct and indirect partners to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms driving phenotypic trait evolution in multispecies interactions.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection on fruit traits is mediated by the interplay between frugivorous birds, fruit flies, parasitoid wasps and seed‐dispersing ants

Palacio

Siepielski

Lacoretz

et al. 2020

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Leaf-cutting ants’ distribution in an elevation gradient in central Argentina

Peirone-Cappri,

Cingolani,

Alvarez Pringles

et al. 2024

Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment

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Leaf‐cutting ant abundance and distribution under different agricultural practices in grassland biome

Ribero

Pinto

Bellocq

et al. 2021

Agri and Forest Entomology

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Leaf-cutting ants (LCA) frequently show positive associations with human disturbance in forest biome, explained by habitat opening and increase of pioneer vegetation. However, little is known about LCA response in grassland biome. Agriculture and commercial forestry typically introduce closed habitats and displace pioneer vegetation when occurring in grasslands. The aim of this study was to assess the response of LCA to different land use types developed in a grassland biome. 2 Semi-natural grassland remnants, soybean crops, cattle pastures and young and mature eucalypt plantations were sampled in Entre Ríos, Argentina. LCA nest abundance and occurrence of workers was obtained by hand sampling and baited pitfall traps. 3 LCA nest abundance significantly decreased in most land use types when compared with the grassland sites. All habitat types were characterized by the presence of different LCA species, which showed different associations with temperature, vegetation and soil structure. 4 Our results suggest that LCA response to human disturbance depends on the biome where it occurs; contrary to what was observed in forests, the LCA assemblage was negatively associated to human disturbance in grasslands. The response of the whole assemblage masked different responses of LCA species, possibly indicating differences in their ecological niche.

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Acromyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae): patrones de distribución de las especies en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Selection on fruit traits is mediated by the interplay between frugivorous birds, fruit flies, parasitoid wasps and seed‐dispersing ants

Selection on fruit traits is mediated by the interplay between frugivorous birds, fruit flies, parasitoid wasps and seed‐dispersing ants

Leaf-cutting ants’ distribution in an elevation gradient in central Argentina

Leaf‐cutting ant abundance and distribution under different agricultural practices in grassland biome

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