Foliar uptake of nitrogen from ant faecal droplets: An overlooked service to ant‐plants

Pinkalski, Christian; Jensen, Karl-Martin Vagn; Damgaard, Christian; Offenberg, Joachim

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12841

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…If nutrients were absorbed via the soil, no difference between treatments was expected. Uptake from foliage has been observed in weaver ants where nitrogen from their fecal spots was absorbed directly by coffee leaves (Pinkalski et al, 2018). Nitrogen, however, was not affected by ant presence in the current study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 43%

Wood Ant (Formica polyctena) Services and Disservices in a Danish Apple Plantation

2019

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Ants possess properties that can be used to optimize plant production in agricultural systems. Ant services can be herbivore and pathogen protection and fertilization of their plant partners. They may, however, also harm plants by facilitating ant-attended herbivorous homopterans. To assess whether wood ants can be used in IPM-systems to improve apple production, we transplanted wood ants into a Danish apple plantation and tested whether ants (i) reduced the number of herbivores, (ii) led to higher amounts of leaf nutrients, (iii) controlled apple pathogens, (iv) increased homopteran abundance and (iv) whether these effects affected apple yields. During a two year study, we found that the wood ants significantly reduced the numbers of winter moth larvae, increased magnesium content in apple leaves (but did not affect 10 other nutrients), reduced the number of apples infected with apple brown rot and apple scab (on one apple variety) and increased aphid infections. In the first year, this led to higher apple production on ant trees, whereas ants had no effect on yields in the second year. It was evident that ants provided both services and disservices. If mutualistic ant-homopteran interactions can be disrupted, this would favor plant growth and open for the use of wood ants in sustainable plant management. We discuss how this may be accomplished. Alternatively, ants may be used short term to knock down pest outbreaks (before building up homopteran populations) or used in crops that do not host ant-attended homopterans.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 43%

Wood Ant (Formica polyctena) Services and Disservices in a Danish Apple Plantation

2019

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“…These ants provide pest suppression (Van Mele, 2008), and by feeding on pests they provide a protein‐rich food for humans that use the ants as a food source (Table 1; Offenberg & Wiwatwitaya, 2010; Rastogi, 2011), produce substances that are used in local medicines (Oudhia, 2002), and constitute a source of income from sale as food in local markets (Sribandit et al ., 2008). Foliar uptake of nutrients from ants may have implications for agricultural production as an ES provided by ants (Pinkalski et al ., 2016, 2018), in addition to the pest control service that ants provide (Perfecto, Vandermeer & Philpott, 2014; Offenberg, 2015). However, few studies integrate the value of both the services and disservices that social insects provide.…”

Section: Integrative Evaluation Of Ecosystem Services and Disservicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecosystem services provided by social insects: traits, management tools and knowledge gaps

et al. 2020

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Social insects, i.e. ants, bees, wasps and termites, are key components of ecological communities, and are important ecosystem services (ESs) providers. Here, we review the literature in order to (i) analyse the particular traits of social insects that make them good suppliers of ESs; (ii) compile and assess management strategies that improve the services provided by social insects; and (iii) detect gaps in our knowledge about the services that social insects provide. Social insects provide at least 10 ESs; however, many of them are poorly understood or valued. Relevant traits of social insects include high biomass and numerical abundance, a diversity of mutualistic associations, the ability to build important biogenic structures, versatile production of chemical defences, the simultaneous delivery of several ESs, the presence of castes and division of labour, efficient communication and cooperation, the capacity to store food, and a long lifespan. All these characteristics enhance social insects as ES providers, highlighting their potential, constancy and efficiency as suppliers of these services. In turn, many of these traits make social insects stress tolerant and easy to manage, so increasing the ESs they provide. We emphasise the need for a conservation approach to the management of the services, as well as the potential use of social insects to help restore habitats degraded by human activities. In addition, we stress the need to evaluate both services and disservices in an integrated way, because some species of social insects are among the most problematic invasive species and native pests. Finally, we propose two areas of research that will lead to a greater and more efficient use of social insects as ES providers, and to a greater appreciation of them by producers and decision‐makers.

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“…Ant-plant mutualistic associations are so ubiquitous that they have been employed in biological control in multiple crops (Way and Khoo 1992, Perfecto et al 2014, Offenberg 2015. Reduced herbivory, however, does not always fully explain increased plant performance, suggesting that there may be more to ant-plant interactions than the removal of herbivores alone (Chamberlain and Holland 2009, Trager et al 2010, Pinkalski et al 2018). Thus, additional ant services may be in play.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants suppressing plant pathogens: a review

Offenberg

Damgaard

2019

Oikos

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Ant–plant mutualisms are usually regarded as driven by ants defending plants against herbivores in return for plant‐produced food rewards and housing. However, ants may provide additional services. In a review of published studies on ant–pathogen–plant interactions, we investigated whether ants’ extensive hygiene measures, including the use of ant‐produced antibiotics, extend to their host plants and reduce plant pathogen loads. From 30 reported species combinations, we found that the presence of ants lead to reduced pathogen levels in 18 combinations and to increased levels in 6. On average, ants significantly reduced pathogen incidence with 59%. This effect size did not differ significantly from effect sizes reported from meta‐analyses on herbivore protection. Thus, pathogen and herbivore protection could be of equal importance in ant–plant mutualisms. Considering the abundance of these interactions, ecological impacts are potentially high. Furthermore, awareness of this service may stimulate the development of new measures to control plant diseases in agriculture. It should be noted, though, that studies were biased toward tropical ant–plant symbioses and that the literature in the field is limited at present. Future research on plant pathogens is needed to enhance our understanding of ant–plant mutualisms and their evolution.

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Foliar uptake of nitrogen from ant faecal droplets: An overlooked service to ant‐plants

Cited by 21 publications

References 41 publications

Wood Ant (Formica polyctena) Services and Disservices in a Danish Apple Plantation

Wood Ant (Formica polyctena) Services and Disservices in a Danish Apple Plantation

The ecosystem services provided by social insects: traits, management tools and knowledge gaps

Ants suppressing plant pathogens: a review

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