Temporal patterns of nutrient availability around nests of leaf-cutting ants (Atta colombica) in secondary moist tropical forest
نویسندگان
چکیده
Temporal patterns of nutrient availability around nests of leaf-cutting ants (Atta colombica) in secondary moist tropical forest Theresa M. Hudson, Benjamin L. Turner*. Hubert Herz, James S. Robinson a Department of Soil Science, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6DW, UK b Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama c Biology Department, San Francisco State University, WOO Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
منابع مشابه
Plants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests.
Leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. Debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry. However, the large accumulation of nutrients and changes in soil properties near their nests might benefit plants growing near them. Here, we...
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While leaf-cutter ants are thought to collect mainly vegetative plant material, they have also been observed collecting seeds or fruit parts on the forest floor (Alvarez-Buylla & Martı́nez-Ramos 1990, Kaspari 1996). For example, leafcutter ants have been observed carrying considerable numbers of Brosimum alicastrum Sw. and Cecropia spp. seeds into their nests (Wirth 1996) and Leal & Oliveira (19...
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The effects of leaf toughness, trichome characteristics, nutrient and water availability, and secondary chemistry on diet selection by the leafcutting ant Atta cephalotes were determined using individuals of 49 woody plant species from a tropical deciduous forest in Costa Rica. The palatability of plants was measured by presenting whole leaves to leafcutting ant foragers on trails and counting ...
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SHUTLER, D., and MULLIE, A. 1991. Size-related foraging behaviour of the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica. Can. J . Zool. 69: 15301533 In a Costa Rican forest adjacent to cattle pasture, larger individuals of the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica carried heavier loads and foraged farther from the colony, as predicted by foraging theory. Counter to foraging theory, individual ants did not increase ...
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Leafcutter ants cut trimmings from plants, carry them to their underground nests and cut them into smaller pieces before inoculating them with a fungus that serves as a primary food source for the colony. Cutting is energetically costly, so the amount of cutting is important in understanding foraging energetics. Estimates of the cutting density, metres of cutting per square metre of leaf, were ...
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