Attractiveness Of Fallen Fleshy Fruits To Ants Depends On Previous Handling By Frugivores

Interactions between ants and vertebrate-dispersed fleshy fruits are common on the floor of tropical forests. These interactions are considered beneficial to seeds if ants clean the seed (which may prevent fungal contamination and/or increase germination success) or act as secondary fine-scale dispersers (depositing the seed in nearby nutrient-enriched nest sites). Benefits to seeds, however, may be constrained by limited ant access to fruits. Here, we experimentally tested whether ant access to fallen fleshy fruits of Psychotria suterella (Rubiaceae) can be affected by previous handling (including ingestion) by birds. We found that mandibulated fruits and fruits embedded in feces are more prone to be visited by ants compared to entirely intact fruits. Moreover, the number of ant species per station was higher for vertebrate-handled fruit categories. We suggest that ongoing vertebrate loss in tropical forests may affect this highly opportunistic and potentially mutualistic interaction.2018589Banks-Leite, C., Ewers, R.M., Metzger, J.P., Edge effects as the principal cause of area effects on birds in fragmented secondary forest (2010) Oikos, 119, pp. 918-926Beattie, A.J., (1985) The Evolutionary Ecology of Ant-Plant Mutualisms, , Cambridge University Press, CambridgeBieber, A.G.D., (2012) A Fragmentacao Florestal e A Interacao Entre Formigas e Diasporos Carnosos Na Floresta Atlantica, , PhD thesis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, CampinasBöhning-Gaese, K., Gaese, B.H., Rabemanantsoa, S.B., Importance of primary and secondary seed dispersal in the Malagasy tree Commiphora guillaumini (1999) Ecology, 80, pp. 821-832Bolton, B., Alpert, G., Ward, P.S., Naskrecki, P., (2007) Bolton's Catalogue of Ants of the World, pp. 1758-2005. , CD-ROM. 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Do Abandoned Nests Of Leaf-cutting Ants Enhance Plant Recruitment In The Atlantic Forest?

The role played by abandoned nests of leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) as a small-scale disturbance regime that affects plant recruitment, species coexistence and forest regeneration remains poorly investigated. Here we examine whether abandoned nests of Atta cephalotes serve as regeneration niches and operate as particular plant recruitment habitats, favouring forest regeneration after ant activities cease and leading to the establishment of taxonomically/ecologically distinct plant assemblages. Soil properties, canopy openness, light availability and regenerating plant assemblages were evaluated across 18 nests and adjacent control plots in a large remnant of Atlantic Forest in north-east Brazil from December 2004 to December 2005. Surprisingly, nests and control plots exhibited very similar light environments irrespective of nest age, but nest soils exhibited substantial reductions in carbon content (1.45±0.24 vs. 1.79±0.13%) and organic matter (2.50±0.41 vs. 3.08±0.23%), and proved to be much more resistant to penetration (30.57±6.08 vs. 39.48±7.53mm). Functional signature of regenerating plant assemblages exhibited little variation across both habitat types, as they were dominated by pioneer, small-seeded and vertebrate-dispersed species. However, abandoned nests exhibited less dense, impoverished and more homogeneous regenerating plant assemblages at local and landscape scale; they clearly lacked nest-dependent plant species and represented floristic subsets of the flora inhabiting the undisturbed forest. This recruitment bottleneck was transient in the long term because nest-related effects ameliorated in older nests. Our results suggest that, unlike treefall gaps, abandoned nests represent temporary (relatively long-lasting) islands of unsuitable substrate that reduce plant recruitment, retard forest regeneration, and fail in providing a special regeneration niche able to promote species coexistence and plant diversity. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Ecological Society of Australia.362220232Atmar, W., Patterson, B.D., (1995) The Nestedness Temperature Calculator: A Visual Basic Program, Including 294 Presence-absence Matrices, , AICS Research, Inc., University Park, NM and the Field Museum, Chicago, ILBandeira, A., Harada, A., Cupins e formigas na Amazônia (1991) Bases Científicas para Estratégias de Preservação e Desenvolvimento da Amazônia: fatos e Perspectivas, pp. 387-395. , In: (eds A. L. Val, R. Figliuolo & E. 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