Stereotyped seed preferences of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex mendozanus in the central Monte desert

Miretti, María Florencia; Casenave, Javier Nestor Lopez de; Pol, Rodrigo G.

doi:10.1007/s11829-019-09696-x

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Seed shape, but not seed mass, influenced preference. In contrast to other research on these species (Azcarate et al 2005, Willott et al 2000 as well as on other harvester ants (Miretti et al 2019), we observed that the ants preferred the more spherical seeds of E. serrata, F. ericoides , and R. officinalis to the longer seeds of Poaceae and Platanaceae. These results can be partly explained by the fact that some of the above plant species (i.e., E. serrata and R. officinalis ) produce seeds with elaiosomes.…”

Section: Seed Preferences and Seed Traitscontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, ants must select from among the seeds available to them, but they may have seed preferences that shape their diets and seed selection patterns in the study area. Similar results have been seen in several South AmericanPogonomyrmex species (Miretti et al 2019;Pirk and Lopez de Casenave 2011), highlighting the importance of conducting seed preference studies in the field to clarify the trophic ecology of harvester ants.…”

Section: Seed Preferences and Seed Traitssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…For instance, some South AmericanPogonomyrmex species greatly prefer grass seeds over forb and shrub (Miretti et al 2019, Pirk andLopez de Casenave 2011). This preference may be due to the grass seeds' morphological features and nutritional composition: compared to the seeds of forbs and shrubs, they are easier to manipulate, have higher concentrations of carbohydrates (e.g., starch), and contain lower levels of secondary compounds (Miretti et al 2019). In overgrazed habitats, where there is a dearth of grass seeds, ant colonies are smaller in size, occur at lower densities, experience higher levels of worker mortality, and possess reproductive females in diminished physical condition (Pol et al 2017(Pol et al , 2022.…”

Section: Diet and Seed Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conserved seed preferences explain trophic ecology of functionally distinct but co-occurring and closely related harvester ants

Pol¹,

Lázaro‐González

Rodrigo

et al. 2022

Preprint

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To understand how food resource use and partitioning by closely related species allows local coexistence, it is key to determine whether a species’ diet reflects food availability or food preferences; the latter can be rooted in functional traits and/or phylogenetic history. Here, we analysed the diets, seed selection and seed preferences of three closely related harvester ants: Messor barbarus, M. bouvieri, and M. capitatus. Sympatric within a Mediterranean shrubland, these species differ in foraging behaviour and worker polymorphism. For two years, we studied the ants’ diets and seed selection patterns as well as the local availability of seeds. Additionally, we performed a seed choice experiment using a paired comparison design, offering the ants seeds from eight native plant species. The three ant species had the same general diet, which was primarily granivorous. Although they all consumed a wide variety of seeds, they mostly selected seeds from a small subset of plant species. Despite their morphological and behavioural differences, the ants displayed similar seed preferences that were highly consistent with their diets and seed selection patterns. Our results support the idea that the trophic ecology of these three harvester ants is driven more by phylogeny, in the form of conserved seed preferences, than by functional traits. Seed diversity and abundance were high near the ants’ nests, suggesting that seed availability is not limiting and could in fact favour local species coexistence.

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Section: Seed Preferences and Seed Traitscontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Seed Preferences and Seed Traitssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Diet and Seed Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conserved seed preferences explain trophic ecology of functionally distinct but co-occurring and closely related harvester ants

Pol¹,

Lázaro‐González

Rodrigo

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…As these woody plants are poorly consumed by livestock (Guevara et al, 1997), they may constitute a valuable alternative resource for P. spininodis in these degraded environments. The changes observed in the diet of this ant discriminate between these two alternatives (Miretti et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Changes in seed abundance driven by overgrazing and rainfall variability trigger variations in the diet of a small harvester ant

Vullo,

Lopez de Casenave,

Miretti

et al. 2023

Ecological Entomology

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Some species are severely affected by global change, whereas others can survive or even thrive under the same circumstances. Species with more flexible behaviours can better cope with changes in the environment than those with more stereotyped behaviours; therefore, knowing the limits of behavioural flexibility is critical to predict their responses to global change. Livestock grazing is the most widespread land use in deserts and a major driver of vegetation change. In turn, unpredictable and sporadic rainfall can increase the negative impact of grazing. The interaction of both factors is more relevant nowadays as a consequence of climate change. In the central Monte desert, cattle grazing and inter‐annual variations in rainfall reduce the abundance of seeds preferentially consumed by granivorous animals. There we analysed the dietary flexibility of the specialist harvester ant Pheidole spininodis in response to inter‐annual variations in seed availability during four consecutive years at sites with contrasting grazing pressure. Pheidole spininodis expanded its diet by including other items and decreasing seed consumption as seed availability decreased over the years, but this response did not differ between grazing conditions, probably because the drastic reduction in seed abundance at the regional scale blurred the contrast between grazed and ungrazed sites. Our results highlight the potential dietary flexibility of a specialist species that, under adverse conditions, can modify its diet. Future studies should investigate whether these changes in the diet of P. spininodis in contexts of low resource availability may have negative effects on its survival, as previously reported for other granivorous species.

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“…Many studies have shown that foraging decisions of harvester ants can change in response to the types of seeds available near nests (e.g., Crist and MacMahon 1992, Pirk et al 2009, Miretti et al 2019. While research to date suggests that P. salinus prefers L. papilliferum seeds to other seeds commonly available (Schmasow and Robertson 2016), it would be informative to compare the intensity of seed predation on L. papilliferum among populations and years to determine whether the results of our study are widely applicable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Harvester Ants Reduce Seed Survivorship in Slickspot Peppergrass, a Rare Mustard Endemic to Idaho

Brown

Robertson

2020

Western North American Naturalist

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Harvester ants in the genus Pogonomyrmex are important seed consumers in the arid and semi arid grasslands of North America (MacMahon et al. 2000). Their foraging activities have the capacity to remove large numbers of seeds from the environment, which can alter the composition of plant communities and the dynamics of populations (Reichman 1979, Inouye et al. 1980, MacMahon et al. 2000). The detrimental effects of seed predation may be

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Stereotyped seed preferences of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex mendozanus in the central Monte desert

Cited by 8 publications

References 50 publications

Conserved seed preferences explain trophic ecology of functionally distinct but co-occurring and closely related harvester ants

Conserved seed preferences explain trophic ecology of functionally distinct but co-occurring and closely related harvester ants

Changes in seed abundance driven by overgrazing and rainfall variability trigger variations in the diet of a small harvester ant

Harvester Ants Reduce Seed Survivorship in Slickspot Peppergrass, a Rare Mustard Endemic to Idaho

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