Article
Ecology
Mario A. A. Sandoval-Molina, Jose G. Garcia-Franco, Cecilia Diaz-Castelazo, Mariusz Krzysztof Janczur
Summary: In exchange for extrafloral nectar, ants can deter herbivores from plants and improve their growth and survival. This study investigates the sex-related differences in ant-plant interactions in Opuntia robusta plants with extrafloral nectaries, and how resource investment influences the outcomes of these interactions in terms of ant foraging, herbivory, growth, and survival.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yangqing Luo, Amanda Taylor, Patrick Weigelt, Benoit Guenard, Evan P. Economo, Arkadiusz Nowak, Inderjit Inderjit, Holger Kreft
Summary: Biotic interactions, especially mutualistic interactions with invertebrates, are important for shaping global plant diversity patterns. A global-scale biogeographic analysis of ant-plant mutualisms reveals distinct patterns, with domatium- and EFN-bearing plant diversity decreasing towards the poles, while elaiosome-bearing plants prevail at mid-latitudes. Climate, particularly temperature and precipitation, emerge as strong predictors of ant-associated plant diversity, with EFN-bearing plants increasing in hot and moist regions and elaiosome-bearing plants linked to interacting ant seed dispersers in dry regions. These results highlight the importance of mutualistic interactions for understanding plant biogeography.
Article
Plant Sciences
Priscila Bruno Cardoso, Eduardo Soares Calixto, Helena Maura Torezan-Silingardi, Kleber Del-Claro
Summary: In plant-ant mutualisms, the behavior of visiting ants can deter hummingbirds and disrupt pollination, directly influencing fruit production. However, this influence is species-specific, with large predatory ants having a negative impact on hummingbird behavior while mid-sized ants show no effects.
Review
Plant Sciences
Tara Joy Massad
Summary: Top-down and bottom-up forces in tropical savannas play a role in shaping plant defense traits against different herbivore pressures. African savannas and South American cerrado biome offer an instructive comparison to understand how plant defense traits evolved in response to herbivore pressure. The dominance of specialist insect herbivores in the cerrado has likely selected for different plant defense traits compared to the more generalist mammalian herbivores in Africa.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Laura C. Leal, Anselmo Nogueira, Paulo E. C. Peixoto
Summary: This study investigated the outcome of protective mutualisms between ants and plants with extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) and found that both plant and ant traits influenced the mutualistic outcome. The combination of traits exhibited by the partners can vary in intricate ways and affect the impact of ant attendance on plants.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Eduardo Soares Calixto, Kleber Del-Claro, Denise Lange, Judith Bronstein
Summary: Plants have evolved inducible defenses to minimize costs of constitutive defenses. However, this can leave them vulnerable between damage and defense onset. Little research has examined time course in inducible protective mutualism between ants and extrafloral nectary-bearing plants. This study evaluates extrafloral nectar production and ant attendance over time in response to different levels of herbivore damage in a Brazilian tree.
Article
Ecology
Ernesto Villacis-Perez, Juan Manuel Alba, Julien Cotte, Zeno van Loon, Johannes A. J. Breeuwer, Thomas Van Leeuwen
Summary: Host plant specialisation can lead to evolutionary divergence between herbivore populations, but little is known about how adaptations to plant defences contribute to the co-existence of genetically distinct populations. In this study, we investigated the interaction between honeysuckle and sympatric specialist and generalist populations of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae. We found that mite folivory induces the production of defensive sticky droplets on honeysuckle, and the preference to feed on honeysuckle depends on mite genotype. These traits are heritable and dominant in F1 hybrids. We propose that selection pressure from host plant defences and ecological barriers to hybridisation contribute to the persistence of genetically distinct populations in sympatry.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Jessica T. Kansman, Jorge L. Jaramillo, Jared G. Ali, Sara L. Hermann
Summary: Threats to food security require sustainable agriculture practices for insect pest management. Conservation biological control (CBC) relies on pest control services provided by local populations of arthropod natural enemies. This review discusses past strategies using chemical ecology in CBC and proposes future directions, including leveraging induced plant defenses and genetically engineered crops.
TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Fernanda M. P. Oliveira, Talita Camara, Jose I. F. Durval, Caroline L. S. Oliveira, Xavier Arnan, Alan N. Andersen, Elaine M. S. Ribeiro, Inara R. Leal
Summary: In Brazilian Caatinga, plants rely on ant protection services mediated by EFNs to defend against herbivores. The study found that ant attack rates decrease with increased aridity, which is attributed to changes in the composition of attendant ant species.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Akira Yamawo, Nobuhiko Suzuki, Jun Tagawa
Summary: The study highlights a negative relationship between ant species richness and the effectiveness of ant-mediated indirect defense traits in ant-plant interactions. High ant species richness weakens facultative ant-plant defensive mutualism, resulting in a decrease in the number of defense traits per leaf. This link between species richness and trait function provides insight into evolutionary patterns within biological communities.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Eduardo Soares Calixto, Leticia Rodrigues Novaes, Danilo Ferreira Borges dos Santos, Denise Lange, Xoaquin Moreira, Kleber Del-Claro
Summary: This study investigated the effects of temperature and rainfall on ant-plant-herbivore interactions, discovering that rainfall directly and indirectly influenced extrafloral nectar secretion activity, leading to changes in ant abundance, but not affecting herbivore levels. The results provide insight into how climate impacts seasonal patterns in these mutualistic interactions, emphasizing the importance of plant phenology.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Xiao Sun, Yumei Sun, Xueyao Cao, Xincong Zhai, Ragan M. Callaway, Jinlong Wan, S. Luke Flory, Wei Huang, Jianqing Ding
Summary: Non-native plants experience less damage from herbivory compared to native plants, but they have weaker constitutive defenses and stronger induced defenses. The strength of constitutive defenses in non-natives is influenced by the intensity of herbivory, while induced defenses show the opposite trend. Additionally, investment in induced defenses is positively correlated with growth, which may contribute to increased competitive ability.
Article
Ecology
Leticia Ramos, Marcilio Fagundes, Daniela Boanares, Geraldo Wilson Fernandes, Ricardo Solar
Summary: This study investigates how plants respond to changes in nutrient and water availability and how these responses affect insect communities. The results show that plants supplemented with nutrients and water have lower herbivory rates and higher ant abundance. Although there were no variations in richness and abundance of galling insects, the co-occurrence patterns of galls varied with the availability of resources in the plant.
BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Lauren N. Carley, Susan G. Letcher
Summary: Research shows that chemically intensive agriculture can lead to reduced expression of putative antiherbivore defenses in plant populations, potentially weakening chemical defenses. This change is associated with a decrease in herbivore damage on plants downstream from agricultural areas.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Cindy Perkovich, David Ward
Summary: Plant-herbivore interactions play a crucial role in the biodiversity of ecosystems. This study investigates the defensive strategies employed by swamp white oak against insects and large mammals. The results show that plant defense strategies vary spatially on individual trees, and the presence of different herbivores can affect the composition of plant defenses.
