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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Assessing the Impact of Deforestation of the Atlantic Rainforest on Ant-Fruit Interactions: A Field Experiment Using Synthetic Fruits

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Author(s):
Bieber, Ana Gabriela D. [1] ; Silva, Paulo S. D. [2] ; Sendoya, Sebastian F. [1] ; Oliveira, Paulo S. [3]
Total Authors: 4
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Campinas, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Estadual Sudoeste da Bahia, Lab Biossistemat Anim, Itapetinga, BA - Brazil
[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Biol Anim, Campinas, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Journal article
Source: PLoS One; v. 9, n. 2 FEB 26 2014.
Web of Science Citations: 3
Abstract

Ants frequently interact with fleshy fruits on the ground of tropical forests. This interaction is regarded as mutualistic because seeds benefit from enhanced germination and dispersal to nutrient-rich microsites, whereas ants benefit from consuming the nutritious pulp/aril. Considering that the process of deforestation affects many attributes of the ecosystem such as species abundance and composition, and interspecific interactions, we asked whether the interaction between ants and fallen fleshy fruits in the Brazilian Atlantic forest differs between human-created fragments and undisturbed forests. We controlled diaspore type and quantity by using synthetic fruits (a plastic `seed' covered by a lipid-rich `pulp'), which were comparable to lipid-rich fruits. Eight independent areas (four undisturbed forests, and four disturbed forest fragments) were used in the field experiment, in which we recorded the attracted ant species, ant behaviour, and fruit removal distance. Fruits in undisturbed forest sites attracted a higher number of species than those in disturbed forests. Moreover, the occurrence of large, fruit-carrying ponerine ants (Pachycondyla, Odontomachus; 1.1 to 1.4 cm) was higher in undisturbed forests. Large species (>= 3 mm) of Pheidole (Myrmicinae), also able to remove fruits, did not differ between forest types. Following these changes in species occurrence, fruit displacement was more frequent in undisturbed than in disturbed forests. Moreover, displacement distances were also greater in the undisturbed forests. Our data suggest that fallen fleshy fruits interacting with ants face different fates depending on the conservation status of the forest. Together with the severe loss of their primary dispersers in human-disturbed tropical forest sites, vertebrate-dispersed fruits may also be deprived of potential ant-derived benefits in these habitats due to shifts in the composition of interacting ant species. Our data illustrate the use of synthetic fruits to better understand the ecology of ant-fruit interactions in variable ecological settings, including human-disturbed landscapes. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 12/23671-5 - Interaction between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries : community patterns along a latitudinal gradient in the cerrado biome
Grantee:Paulo Sergio Moreira Carvalho de Oliveira
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
FAPESP's process: 12/23399-3 - Interaction between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries : Community patterns along a latitudinal gradient in the cerrado biome
Grantee:Sebastian Felipe Sendoya Echeverry
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
FAPESP's process: 11/18580-8 - Studies on Neotropical ants: interactions with herbivorous insects, behavioral ecology and social organization
Grantee:Paulo Sergio Moreira Carvalho de Oliveira
Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants