Results 161 to 170 of about 998 (184)

Ecological implications of myrmecochory

2003
Two fundamental criteria of myrmecophily (mutual interactions between ants and plants) are generally implicated (Blatter, 1928). First, plants have to obtain evident advantages from the ant activity, and ants have to be able to provide these advantages. Second, plants must have specialised structures for ant attraction.
Elena Gorb, Stanislav Gorb
openaire   +1 more source

Multiphase myrmecochory: the roles of different ant species and effects of fire

Oecologia, 2013
Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) can be influenced by changes to ant assemblages resulting from habitat disturbance as well as by differences in disperser behaviour. We investigated the effect of habitat disturbance by fire on the dispersal of seeds of a myrmecochorous shrub, Pultenaea daphnoides.
Kieren P, Beaumont, Duncan A, Mackay, Molly A, Whalen   +2 more
openaire   +2 more sources

Convergence of myrmecochory in mediterranean Australia and South Africa

1982
Interactions between ants and plants were compared on sandy soils under a mediterranean climate in Australia and southern Africa. Both the Barrens in Western Australia and the Caledon coast in the southwestern Cape, South Africa, support fire-prone sclerophyllous shrublands.
A. V. Milewski, W. J. Bond
openaire   +1 more source

Myrmecochory in sclerophyll vegetation of the West Head, New South Wales

Austral Ecology, 1981
The incidence of myrmecochory (plants providing inducements for ants to disperse their seeds) was studied in thirty-eight plots on the West Head, New South Wales. The vegetation is made up of species from the temperate Australian flora which includes the largest known concentration of myrmecochores.
BARBARA RICE, MARK WESTOBY
openaire   +1 more source

Myrmecochory by small ants – Beneficial effects through elaiosome nutrition and seed dispersal

Acta Oecologica, 2012
Abstract Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) is a common mutualism in temperate woodlands of the Northern hemisphere. In this paper we highlight the contribution of one of the most abundant ant species of Eastern Central Europe, Temnothorax crassispinus, to myrmecochory. In field and mesocosm studies we found that T.
Gerriet Fokuhl, Jürgen Heinze, Peter Poschlod   +2 more
openaire   +2 more sources

Elaiosomes on Weed Seeds and the Potential for Myrmecochory in Naturalized Plants

Weed Science, 1990
Seeds of plants naturalized in the United States were examined for the presence of elaiosomes. Seeds of 47 species belonging to 13 families (Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Dipsacaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Fumariaceae, Lamiaceae, Liliaceae, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Resedaceae, Rosaceae, and Solanaceae) were found to have elaiosomes, indicating that these ...
Robert W. Pemberton, Delilah W. Irving
openaire   +1 more source

Can the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile Mayr) replace native ants in myrmecochory?

Acta Oecologica, 2003
We analyse the influence of the Argentine ant ( Linepithema humileMayr) on the seed dispersal process of the myrmecochorous plants Euphorbia characias, E. biumbellata, Genista linifolia, G. triflora, G. monspessulana and Sarothamnus arboreus. The observations were made in two study plots of Mediterranean cork-oak secondary forest (invaded and non ...
Crisanto Gómez, Jordi Oliveras
openaire   +1 more source

Species introduction shifts a trait's function from mutualism to antagonism: elaiosomes in a myrmecochory cold spot

Oikos, 2023
Placing traits into novel evolutionary contexts may profoundly alter their functional roles. Here, we investigated whether the elaiosome, a lipid‐rich appendage located on seeds, retained its role as a seed dispersal trait promoting mutualisms with insectivorous ants following human‐mediated introduction of the elaiosome‐bearing
José L. Hierro, Walter A. Muiño, Alejandro Farji‐Brener, Marina C. Cock, Dean E. Pearson   +4 more
openaire   +1 more source

Myrmecochory in Viola: Dynamics of Seed-Ant Interactions in Some West Virginia Species

The Journal of Ecology, 1978
SUMMARY (1) The interactions of ants and diplochorous Viola seeds were studied at four forest and forest-edge sites in Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia. Of the nine Viola species studied, seeds of six (V. blanda, V. papilionacea, V. pedata, V. pensylvanica, V. rostrata and V. triloba) were readily taken.
David C. Culver, Andrew J. Beattie
openaire   +1 more source

Myrmecochory and short-term seed fate in Rhamnus alaternus: Ant species and seed characteristics

Acta Oecologica, 2009
Benefits conferred on plants in ant-mediated seed dispersal mutualisms (myrmecochory) depend on the fate of transported seeds. We studied the effects of elaiosome presence, seed size and seed treatment (with and without passage through a bird's digestive tract) on short-term seed fate in Rhamnus alaternus.
J.M. Bas, J. Oliveras, C. Gómez
openaire   +1 more source