科研之友
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摘要
P>1. As central place foragers, ants accumulate organic debris near their nests. Consequently, soil nutrient stocks are often enriched near the nest site. We investigated the hypothesis that plant-derived food sources, such as extrafloral nectar (EFN), can encourage soil-dwelling ant colonies to nest near the plant, thereby inadvertently providing the plant with an additional source of mineral nutrients. The study focused on a population of Acacia constricta, a North American shrub bearing EFNs.
2. Several lines of evidence supported the notion that food rewards drew ant nests close to A. constricta plants. Firstly, ant species that visit EFNs nested significantly closer to A. constricta plants than would be expected by chance, whereas this was not the case for two ant species that do not visit EFNs. Secondly, A. constricta plants with an ant nest occurring naturally underneath the canopy had greater foliar volume, more EFNs per leaf and more EFNs per cm of leaf rachis than plants lacking an ant nest under the canopy. Thirdly, experimental supplementation of the nectar resources on acacias led to the establishment of significantly more new nests near the plant, relative to controls. However, nectar supplementation did not affect acacia seed production within the year of the study.
3. Soil from the nests of three, EFN-visiting ant species contained higher average stocks of most mineral nutrients than nearby soils outside the influence of the nest.
4. To test whether A. constricta can assimilate the nutrients in ant nests, we fed 15N-labelled food to Dorymyrmex sp. (smithi complex) workers nesting near acacias. Twenty-four days later, the leaves of acacias with an experimentally fed ant colony under the canopy contained significantly higher 15N and %N than acacias without a nest under the canopy, indicating that acacias assimilated and benefited from nutrients derived from ants.
5.Synthesis. The results indicate that nectar resources can attract the nests of some ant species, and that plants may benefit from access to soil nutrients derived from ant nests. Our data support the hypothesis that EFNs may confer nutritive, as well as protective, benefits.
- 出版日期2010-5
