Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims

Autores
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Año de publicación
2025
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
conjunto de datos
Estado
Descripción
The Optimal Defense Hypothesis (ODH) posits that investment in defense is proportional to the value of what is defended, predicting that the most valuable structures should have the strongest defenses. In this study, we determined whether an obligate ant-plant mutualism fit the predictions of the ODH and the role of sporadic rain in this process. Sampling was performed in a tropical deciduous forest on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, in Vachellia globulifera plants and their obligate mutualist ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginous. We sampled ant activity before, during, and after an experimental rain event in branches that offer housing and food rewards (spines and leaves with nectaries and food bodies) and in branches with only housing rewards (spines). We found that: a) the number of patrolling events was 100% higher in branches with spines + leaves compared with branches with only spines, b) during a sporadic rain event, ants on branches with spines + leaves stayed on the branch at a higher rate compared to branches with only spines, and c) right after the rain, while branches with the two types of resources reach levels of ant activity almost identical to those observed before the rain (90%), branches with only spines achieve only 20%. All these findings support ODH and provide experimental evidence on the effect of rain events on ant-plant mutualisms, demonstrating that the ant activity on the most valuable resources for ants and plants can be resilient to small climatic events such as sporadic rains.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/264882

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spelling Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualimsFarji Brener, Alejandro Gustavohttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1The Optimal Defense Hypothesis (ODH) posits that investment in defense is proportional to the value of what is defended, predicting that the most valuable structures should have the strongest defenses. In this study, we determined whether an obligate ant-plant mutualism fit the predictions of the ODH and the role of sporadic rain in this process. Sampling was performed in a tropical deciduous forest on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, in Vachellia globulifera plants and their obligate mutualist ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginous. We sampled ant activity before, during, and after an experimental rain event in branches that offer housing and food rewards (spines and leaves with nectaries and food bodies) and in branches with only housing rewards (spines). We found that: a) the number of patrolling events was 100% higher in branches with spines + leaves compared with branches with only spines, b) during a sporadic rain event, ants on branches with spines + leaves stayed on the branch at a higher rate compared to branches with only spines, and c) right after the rain, while branches with the two types of resources reach levels of ant activity almost identical to those observed before the rain (90%), branches with only spines achieve only 20%. All these findings support ODH and provide experimental evidence on the effect of rain events on ant-plant mutualisms, demonstrating that the ant activity on the most valuable resources for ants and plants can be resilient to small climatic events such as sporadic rains.Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina2025info:ar-repo/semantics/conjuntoDeDatosv1.0info:eu-repo/semantics/dataSetapplication/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheethttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; (2025): Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. (dataset). http://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:13:44Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/264882instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:13:44.483CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
title Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
spellingShingle Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
title_short Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
title_full Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
title_fullStr Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
title_full_unstemmed Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
title_sort Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
author Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
author_facet Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
author_role author
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The Optimal Defense Hypothesis (ODH) posits that investment in defense is proportional to the value of what is defended, predicting that the most valuable structures should have the strongest defenses. In this study, we determined whether an obligate ant-plant mutualism fit the predictions of the ODH and the role of sporadic rain in this process. Sampling was performed in a tropical deciduous forest on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, in Vachellia globulifera plants and their obligate mutualist ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginous. We sampled ant activity before, during, and after an experimental rain event in branches that offer housing and food rewards (spines and leaves with nectaries and food bodies) and in branches with only housing rewards (spines). We found that: a) the number of patrolling events was 100% higher in branches with spines + leaves compared with branches with only spines, b) during a sporadic rain event, ants on branches with spines + leaves stayed on the branch at a higher rate compared to branches with only spines, and c) right after the rain, while branches with the two types of resources reach levels of ant activity almost identical to those observed before the rain (90%), branches with only spines achieve only 20%. All these findings support ODH and provide experimental evidence on the effect of rain events on ant-plant mutualisms, demonstrating that the ant activity on the most valuable resources for ants and plants can be resilient to small climatic events such as sporadic rains.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
description The Optimal Defense Hypothesis (ODH) posits that investment in defense is proportional to the value of what is defended, predicting that the most valuable structures should have the strongest defenses. In this study, we determined whether an obligate ant-plant mutualism fit the predictions of the ODH and the role of sporadic rain in this process. Sampling was performed in a tropical deciduous forest on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, in Vachellia globulifera plants and their obligate mutualist ant, Pseudomyrmex ferruginous. We sampled ant activity before, during, and after an experimental rain event in branches that offer housing and food rewards (spines and leaves with nectaries and food bodies) and in branches with only housing rewards (spines). We found that: a) the number of patrolling events was 100% higher in branches with spines + leaves compared with branches with only spines, b) during a sporadic rain event, ants on branches with spines + leaves stayed on the branch at a higher rate compared to branches with only spines, and c) right after the rain, while branches with the two types of resources reach levels of ant activity almost identical to those observed before the rain (90%), branches with only spines achieve only 20%. All these findings support ODH and provide experimental evidence on the effect of rain events on ant-plant mutualisms, demonstrating that the ant activity on the most valuable resources for ants and plants can be resilient to small climatic events such as sporadic rains.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:ar-repo/semantics/conjuntoDeDatos
v1.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/dataSet
format dataSet
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; (2025): Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. (dataset). http://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882
identifier_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; (2025): Ant activity in an ant-plant mutualims. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. (dataset). http://hdl.handle.net/11336/264882
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
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reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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