Natural selection on extrafloral nectaries and specialization of the ant-plant-herbivore interactions

• Grant number: 13/04591-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: June 05, 2013
• End date: November 04, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Lúcia Garcez Lohmann
• Grantee: Anselmo Nogueira
• Supervisor: Pedro José Rey Zamora
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidad de Jaén, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/02110-5 - Evolution of extrafloral nectaries: heritability, natural selection and specialization in ant-plant interactions., BP.PD

Abstract

The main aim of this project is consolidate ecological and evolutionary studies of ant-plant-herbivores interactions in the tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae). During the six months in the Universidad de Jaén, we expect to: (1) test the ecological network structure of ant-plant interactions and the degree of specialization of these interactions in an Amazonian forest community, in conjunction with field studies on the defensive role of EFN-ants against herbivores on different plant species; and (2) test whether extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) responsible for ant-plant interactions are inherited in two populations of a model species of Bignonieae (Anemopaegma album), in addition of the test the relationship between the quantitative variation of these secretory structures with plant performance (i.e., models of directional and stabilizing selection). These aims are in accordance with the research lines of Dr. Pedro Z. Rey that have a great experience with ecological and evolutionary aspects of animal-plant interactions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

NOGUEIRA, ANSELMO; BACCARO, FABRICIO B.; LEAL, LAURA C.; REY, PEDRO J.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.; BRONSTEIN, JUDITH L.. Variation in the production of plant tissues bearing extrafloral nectaries explains temporal patterns of ant attendance in Amazonian understorey plants. JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, v. 108, n. 4, JAN 2020. (13/04591-3, 12/02110-5)

NOGUEIRA, ANSELMO; REY, PEDRO J.; ALCANTARA, JULIO M.; FEITOSA, RODRIGO M.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.. Geographic Mosaic of Plant Evolution: Extrafloral Nectary Variation Mediated by Ant and Herbivore Assemblages. PLoS One, v. 10, n. 4, APR 17 2015. (13/04591-3, 12/02110-5)

NOGUEIRA, ANSELMO; REY, PEDRO J.; ALCANTARA, JULIO M.; LOHMANN, LUCIA G.. Evidence of between-population differences in natural selection on extra-floral nectaries of the shrub Anemopaegma album (Bignoniaceae). BOTANY, v. 94, n. 3, MAR 2016. (12/02110-5, 13/04591-3)