Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia

Autores
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Lescano, María Natalia; Gianoli, Ernesto
Año de publicación
2013
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Interspecific competition plays a key role in the organisation of ant communities. In ant–plant interactions, individual host plants are usually occupied by a single ant colony, and co-occurring ant species compete for hosts. Here indirect evidence of competition between three dominant ant species that tend aphids on two biennial thistles in northern Patagonia is described, and a novel defensive behaviour in temperate ant assemblages is reported. This study has found that: (i) dominant ant species were not spatially segregated, thus enhancing the probability of fights and invasions of host plants; (ii) ant species did not show preferences for a thistle species or for any plant characteristic, and thus all plants have similar chances of being colonised by all dominant ant species; (iii) the resident ant species remained on the same plant during the whole plant life cycle, monopolising plant resources (aphids); and (iv) all dominant species, whose nests are on the ground, assigned some ants to stay on the host plant during the night, when the low temperatures typical of this temperate environment greatly reduce foraging activities. When these ‘nocturnal guards’ were experimentally removed from the host plant, other ants from the same colony rapidly appeared showing aggressive behaviours. Taking all these findings together, it is suggested that interspecific competition influences the distribution of ants on their host plants and involves nocturnal defensive behaviours despite unfavourable thermal conditions. This illustrates how habitat features, such as the short life cycle of thistles and the low night-time temperatures that reduce ant foraging and thus make plants more vulnerable to invasion, might affect the distribution and behaviour of ants.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Lescano, María Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Gianoli, Ernesto. Universidad de la Serena; Chile. Universidad de Concepción; Chile
Materia
Ant Communities
Aphids
Competition
Defensive Behaviour
Temperate Regions
Thsitles
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:11336/6698

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spelling Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern PatagoniaFarji Brener, Alejandro GustavoLescano, María NataliaGianoli, ErnestoAnt CommunitiesAphidsCompetitionDefensive BehaviourTemperate RegionsThsitleshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Interspecific competition plays a key role in the organisation of ant communities. In ant–plant interactions, individual host plants are usually occupied by a single ant colony, and co-occurring ant species compete for hosts. Here indirect evidence of competition between three dominant ant species that tend aphids on two biennial thistles in northern Patagonia is described, and a novel defensive behaviour in temperate ant assemblages is reported. This study has found that: (i) dominant ant species were not spatially segregated, thus enhancing the probability of fights and invasions of host plants; (ii) ant species did not show preferences for a thistle species or for any plant characteristic, and thus all plants have similar chances of being colonised by all dominant ant species; (iii) the resident ant species remained on the same plant during the whole plant life cycle, monopolising plant resources (aphids); and (iv) all dominant species, whose nests are on the ground, assigned some ants to stay on the host plant during the night, when the low temperatures typical of this temperate environment greatly reduce foraging activities. When these ‘nocturnal guards’ were experimentally removed from the host plant, other ants from the same colony rapidly appeared showing aggressive behaviours. Taking all these findings together, it is suggested that interspecific competition influences the distribution of ants on their host plants and involves nocturnal defensive behaviours despite unfavourable thermal conditions. This illustrates how habitat features, such as the short life cycle of thistles and the low night-time temperatures that reduce ant foraging and thus make plants more vulnerable to invasion, might affect the distribution and behaviour of ants.Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Lescano, María Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Gianoli, Ernesto. Universidad de la Serena; Chile. Universidad de Concepción; ChileWiley2013-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/6698Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Lescano, María Natalia; Gianoli, Ernesto; Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia; Wiley; Ecological Entomology; 39; 2; 12-2013; 203-2090307-6946enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12081/abstractinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/een.12081info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T09:39:33Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/6698instacron: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 09:39:33.318CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
title Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
spellingShingle Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Ant Communities
Aphids
Competition
Defensive Behaviour
Temperate Regions
Thsitles
title_short Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
title_full Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
title_fullStr Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
title_full_unstemmed Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
title_sort Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Lescano, María Natalia
Gianoli, Ernesto
author Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
author_facet Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Lescano, María Natalia
Gianoli, Ernesto
author_role author
author2 Lescano, María Natalia
Gianoli, Ernesto
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ant Communities
Aphids
Competition
Defensive Behaviour
Temperate Regions
Thsitles
topic Ant Communities
Aphids
Competition
Defensive Behaviour
Temperate Regions
Thsitles
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Interspecific competition plays a key role in the organisation of ant communities. In ant–plant interactions, individual host plants are usually occupied by a single ant colony, and co-occurring ant species compete for hosts. Here indirect evidence of competition between three dominant ant species that tend aphids on two biennial thistles in northern Patagonia is described, and a novel defensive behaviour in temperate ant assemblages is reported. This study has found that: (i) dominant ant species were not spatially segregated, thus enhancing the probability of fights and invasions of host plants; (ii) ant species did not show preferences for a thistle species or for any plant characteristic, and thus all plants have similar chances of being colonised by all dominant ant species; (iii) the resident ant species remained on the same plant during the whole plant life cycle, monopolising plant resources (aphids); and (iv) all dominant species, whose nests are on the ground, assigned some ants to stay on the host plant during the night, when the low temperatures typical of this temperate environment greatly reduce foraging activities. When these ‘nocturnal guards’ were experimentally removed from the host plant, other ants from the same colony rapidly appeared showing aggressive behaviours. Taking all these findings together, it is suggested that interspecific competition influences the distribution of ants on their host plants and involves nocturnal defensive behaviours despite unfavourable thermal conditions. This illustrates how habitat features, such as the short life cycle of thistles and the low night-time temperatures that reduce ant foraging and thus make plants more vulnerable to invasion, might affect the distribution and behaviour of ants.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Lescano, María Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Gianoli, Ernesto. Universidad de la Serena; Chile. Universidad de Concepción; Chile
description Interspecific competition plays a key role in the organisation of ant communities. In ant–plant interactions, individual host plants are usually occupied by a single ant colony, and co-occurring ant species compete for hosts. Here indirect evidence of competition between three dominant ant species that tend aphids on two biennial thistles in northern Patagonia is described, and a novel defensive behaviour in temperate ant assemblages is reported. This study has found that: (i) dominant ant species were not spatially segregated, thus enhancing the probability of fights and invasions of host plants; (ii) ant species did not show preferences for a thistle species or for any plant characteristic, and thus all plants have similar chances of being colonised by all dominant ant species; (iii) the resident ant species remained on the same plant during the whole plant life cycle, monopolising plant resources (aphids); and (iv) all dominant species, whose nests are on the ground, assigned some ants to stay on the host plant during the night, when the low temperatures typical of this temperate environment greatly reduce foraging activities. When these ‘nocturnal guards’ were experimentally removed from the host plant, other ants from the same colony rapidly appeared showing aggressive behaviours. Taking all these findings together, it is suggested that interspecific competition influences the distribution of ants on their host plants and involves nocturnal defensive behaviours despite unfavourable thermal conditions. This illustrates how habitat features, such as the short life cycle of thistles and the low night-time temperatures that reduce ant foraging and thus make plants more vulnerable to invasion, might affect the distribution and behaviour of ants.
publishDate 2013
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2013-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/6698
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Lescano, María Natalia; Gianoli, Ernesto; Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia; Wiley; Ecological Entomology; 39; 2; 12-2013; 203-209
0307-6946
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/6698
identifier_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Lescano, María Natalia; Gianoli, Ernesto; Nocturnal resource defence in aphid-tending ants of northern Patagonia; Wiley; Ecological Entomology; 39; 2; 12-2013; 203-209
0307-6946
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.12081/abstract
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/een.12081
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/
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/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Wiley
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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