Plants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests
نویسندگان
چکیده
منابع مشابه
Plants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests.
Leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. Debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry. However, the large accumulation of nutrients and changes in soil properties near their nests might benefit plants growing near them. Here, we...
متن کاملLeaf-cutting ant nests near roads increase fitness of exotic plant species in natural protected areas.
Understanding the mechanisms that promote the invasion of natural protected areas by exotic plants is a central concern for ecology. We demonstrated that nests of the leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex lobicornis, near roadsides promote the abundance, growth and reproduction of two exotic plant species, Carduus nutans and Onopordum acanthium, in a national park in northern Patagonia, Argentina and de...
متن کاملGeneration of Nutrients and Detoxification: Possible Roles of Yeasts in Leaf-Cutting Ant Nests
The possible roles played by yeasts in attine ant nests are mostly unknown. Here we present our investigations on the plant polysaccharide degradation profile of 82 yeasts isolated from fungus gardens of Atta and Acromyrmex species to demonstrate that yeasts found in ant nests may play the role of making nutrients readily available throughout the garden and detoxification of compounds that may ...
متن کاملThe epizootiology of a Metarhizium infection in mini-nests of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa
There is growing interest in the use of entomopathogenic organisms to control leaf-cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini). However, the way leaf-cutting ants react as a colony to biohazards is poorly understood. We investigated the effects of Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) (Deuteromycotina: Hyphomycetes) applied to the foraging arenas of mini-nests (queenless sub-colonies) of the...
متن کاملFungal-Fungal Interactions in Leaf-Cutting Ant Agriculture
Many organisms participate in symbiotic relationships with other organisms, yet studies of symbioses typically have focused on the reciprocal costs and benefits within a particular host-symbiont pair. Recent studies indicate that many ecological interactions involve alliances of symbionts acting together as mutualistic consortia against other consortia. Such interacting consortia are likely to ...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
سال: 2006
ISSN: 0962-8452,1471-2954
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3746