Nectar as fuel for plant protectors

Koptur, Suzanne

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511542220.004

Cited by 61 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 178 publications

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“…Ant-plant associations occur between species in most ant subfamilies and plant species in two fern families and innumerous phylogenetically diverse angiosperms (Davidson and McKey 1993), having evolved independently many times (Rico-Gray and Oliveira 2007). These ant-plant interactions are based on the array of resources provided by plants as rewards ranging from food bodies (Fiala et al 1989;Dutra et al 2006), extra-floral nectaries (=EFNs, Oliveira 1997;Rudgers 2004;Koptur 2005) or domatia (nesting sites), the last produced by plant species called ''myrmecophytes'' (Fonseca 1994). Indirect ant-plant interactions can also be mediated by honeydew-producing ''hemipterans'' (Order Hemiptera: Sternorryncha and Auchenorryncha) (Compton and Robertson 1988;Crutsinger and Sanders 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants on plants: a meta-analysis of the role of ants as plant biotic defenses

et al. 2009

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We reviewed the evidence on the role of ants as plant biotic defenses, by conducting meta-analyses for the effects of experimental removal of ants on plant herbivory and fitness with data pooled from 81 studies. Effects reviewed were plant herbivory, herbivore abundance, hemipteran abundance, predator abundance, plant biomass and reproduction in studies where ants were experimentally removed (n = 273 independent comparisons). Ant removal exhibited strong effects on herbivory rates, as plants without ants suffered almost twice as much damage and exhibited 50% more herbivores than plants with ants. Ants also influenced several parameters of plant fitness, as plants without ants suffered a reduction in biomass (-23.7%), leaf production (-51.8%), and reproduction (-24.3%). Effects were much stronger in tropical regions compared to temperate ones. Tropical plants suffered almost threefold higher herbivore damage than plants from temperate regions and exhibited three times more herbivores. Ant removal in tropical plants resulted in a decrease in plant fitness of about 59%, whereas in temperate plants this reduction was not statistically significant. Ant removal effects were also more important in obligate ant-plants (=myrmecophytes) compared to plants exhibiting facultative relationships with hemiptera or those plants with extrafloral nectaries and food bodies. When only tropical plants were considered and the strength of the association between ants and plants taken into account, plants with obligate association with ants exhibited almost four times higher herbivory compared to plants with facultative associations with ants, but similar reductions in plant reproduction. The removal of a single ant species increased plant herbivory by almost three times compared to the removal of several ant species. Altogether, these results suggest that ants do act as plant biotic defenses, but the effects of their presence are more pronounced in tropical systems, especially in myrmecophytic plants.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ants on plants: a meta-analysis of the role of ants as plant biotic defenses

et al. 2009

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“…Some of the plant species do not produce nectar, while others may have long or complicated corollas that can limit nectar availability for small wasps and other short mouthed insects (Baggen et al, 1999;Arévalo and Frank, 2005;Vattala et al, 2006). Even plant species with accessible nectar may vary in the quantity and nutritional characteristics of the floral resource such as the sucrose to hexose ratio of the nectar (Koptur, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of physiological and behavioral responses of parasitoid wasps to flowers of individual plant species

Russell

2015

Biological Control

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“…1a). Such food rewards, however, attract not only aggressive mutualistic ants but also many other organisms that visit the plant to complement their diets, such as non-protective ants, bees, and spiders (Nahas et al 2012;Koptur 2005;Sendoya et al 2009). Although these opportunistic feeders can be regarded as mutualism exploiters, in most cases they do not cause direct harm to either the plant or mutualistic ants (Bronstein 2001; but see Gaume and McKey 1999).…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualism exploitation: predatory drosophilid larvae sugar‐trap ants and jeopardize facultative ant‐plant mutualism

Vidal

Sendoya

Oliveira

2016

Ecology

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An open question in the evolutionary ecology of ant-plant facultative mutualism is how other members of the associated community can affect the interaction to a point where reciprocal benefits are disrupted. While visiting Qualea grandiflora shrubs to collect sugary rewards at extrafloral nectaries, tropical savanna ants deter herbivores and reduce leaf damage. Here we show that larvae of the fly Rhinoleucophenga myrmecophaga, which develop on extrafloral nectaries, lure potentially mutualistic, nectar-feeding ants and prey on them. Foraging ants spend less time on fly-infested foliage. Field experiments showed that predation (or the threat of predation) on ants by fly larvae produces cascading effects through three trophic levels, resulting in fewer protective ants on leaves, increased numbers of chewing herbivores, and greater leaf damage. These results reveal an undocumented mode of mutualism exploitation by an opportunistic predator at a plant-provided food source, jeopardizing ant-derived protection services to the plant. Our study documents a rather unusual case of predation of adult ants by a dipteran species and demonstrates a top-down trophic cascade within a generalized ant-plant mutualism.

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Nectar as fuel for plant protectors

Cited by 61 publications

References 178 publications

Ants on plants: a meta-analysis of the role of ants as plant biotic defenses

Ants on plants: a meta-analysis of the role of ants as plant biotic defenses

A meta-analysis of physiological and behavioral responses of parasitoid wasps to flowers of individual plant species

Mutualism exploitation: predatory drosophilid larvae sugar‐trap ants and jeopardize facultative ant‐plant mutualism

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