Seedling recruitment in a semi‐arid Patagonian steppe: Facilitative effects of refuse dumps of leaf‐cutting ants

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 823-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro G. Farji‐Brener ◽  
Luciana Ghermandi
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Patagonian Steppe ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Refuse Dumps ◽  
Semi Arid

Dispersal of Miconia argentea seeds by the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 705-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Dalling ◽  
Rainer Wirth
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Atta Cephalotes ◽  
Brazilian Cerrado ◽  
Atta Laevigata ◽  
Cerrado Vegetation ◽  
Brosimum Alicastrum ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Single Night ◽  
Local Recruitment ◽  
Atta Colombica

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 & Martínez-Ramos 1990, Kaspari 1996). For example, leaf-cutter ants have been observed carrying considerable numbers of Brosimum alicastrum Sw. and Cecropia spp. seeds into their nests (Wirth 1996) and Leal & Oliveira (1998; pers. comm.) found them foraging on the fruits and seeds of 19 different species of Brazilian cerrado vegetation, including six Miconia species. Under some circumstances, seed removal and relocation by leaf cutter ants might even be sufficient to affect local recruitment patterns of trees. For example, in Costa Rica, Atta cephalotes can remove all fallen fig fruit from beneath a Ficus hondurensis crown in a single night (Roberts & Heithaus 1986), while in Venezuela, seedling recruitment of the savanna tree Tapirira velutinifolia was positively associated with the seed harvesting and seed cleaning activities of the ant Atta laevigata (Farji Brenner & Silva 1996).

Demographic, seed and microsite limitations to seedling recruitment in semi-arid mine site restoration

2019 ◽  
Vol 457 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 113-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Elizabeth Commander ◽  
Luis Merino-Martín ◽  
Carole P. Elliott ◽  
Ben P. Miller ◽  
Kingsley Dixon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Mine Site ◽  
Site Restoration ◽  
Semi Arid

scholarly journals Refuse attracts? Effect of refuse dumps of leaf-cutting ants on floral traits

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anahí Fernandez ◽  
Mariana Tadey ◽  
Alejandro G. Farji-Brener
Keyword(s):  
Floral Traits ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Refuse Dumps

Experimental studies on the life-cycle ofRaillietiella gigliolii(Pentastomida: Cephalobaenida) in the South American worm-lizardAmphisbaena alba: a unique interaction involving two insects

Parasitology ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 471-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Winch ◽  
J. Riley
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
South American ◽  
Atta Cephalotes ◽  
The South ◽  
Rhinoceros Beetle ◽  
Trophic Links ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Leaf Cutting ◽  
Refuse Dumps

SUMMARYRaillietiella giglioliiis a cephalobaenid pentastomid which inhabits the lungs of the South American worm-lizardAmphisbaena alba. The host is a facultative inquiline of nests of the leaf-cutting antAtta cephaloteswhere it feeds occasionally (and possibly by accident) on ants but more often on beetles and their larvae which are themselves inquilines of ant nests. Ants store exhausted leaf-substrate in special underground chambers which serve as refuse dumps and it is here that larvae of the three-horned rhinoceros beetleCoetosis bilobafeed: these larvae are also known to be prey items ofA. alba. From observations of captive colonies ofAtta, we have demonstrated that pentastomid-egg contaminated faeces ofA. alba, introduced into the colony, are rapidly cut up and thrown onto the refuse dump, where, under natural circumstances they will be eaten byCoelosis. These larvae have an unusual and highly specialized gut physiology and parasite eggs will develop to an infective stage within the haemocoel in 70–96 days. Cockroaches are refractory to infection. Ants are the vital link in transmission since they literally deliver eggs to theCoelosislarvae. The strong trophic links which exist between the various components of the life-cycle offset a low fecundity of 100 eggs/female parasite/day but nonetheless maintain a high prevalence (86%) of infection.

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