Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

In his introduction to this detailed survey of knowledge of insect societies, the author points out that research on insect sociology has proceeded in three phases, the natural history phase, the physiological phase and the population-biology phase. Advances in the first two phases have permitted embarkation in the third phase on a more rigorous theory of social evolution based on population genetics and writing this book, the author wished to relate the three phases of research on insects and to express insect sociology as population biology. A glossary of terms, a considerable bibliography and a general index are included. Other CABI sites 

The Insect Societies

Many plants interact with carnivores as an indirect defence against herbivores. The release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the secretion of extrafloral nectar (EFN) are induced by insect feeding, a response that is mediated by the plant hormone, jasmonic acid. Although VOCs mainly attract predatory mites and parasitic wasps, while EFN mainly attracts ants, many more animal-plant interactions are influenced by these two traits. Other traits involved in defensive tritrophic interactions are cellular food bodies and domatia, which serve the nutrition and housing of predators. They are not known to respond to herbivory, while food body production can be induced by the presence of the mutualists. Interactions among the different defensive traits, and between them and other biotic and abiotic factors exist on the genetic, physiological, and ecological levels, but so far remain understudied. Indirect defences are increasingly being discussed as an environmentally-friendly crop protection strategy, but much more knowledge on their fitness effects under certain environmental conditions is required before we can understand their ecological and evolutionary relevance, and before tritrophic interactions can serve as a reliable tool in agronomy.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02330.x

Indirect defence via tritrophic interactions.

▪ Abstract Protective ant-plant interactions, important in both temperate and tropical communities, are increasingly used to study a wide range of phenomena of general interest. As antiherbivore defenses “worn on the outside,” they pose fewer barriers to experimentation than do direct (e.g., chemical) plant defenses. This makes them tractable models to study resource allocation to defense and mechanisms regulating it. As multi-trophic level interactions varying in species specificity and impact on fitness of participants, ant-plant-herbivore associations figure prominently in studies of food-web structure and functioning. As horizontally transmitted mutualisms that are vulnerable to parasites and “cheaters,” ant-plant symbioses are studied to probe the evolutionary dynamics of interspecies interactions. These symbioses, products of coevolution between plants and insect societies, offer rich material for studying ant social evolution in novel contexts, in settings where colony limits, resource supply, and ...

Protective ant-plant interactions as model systems in ecological and evolutionary research.

Weaver ants use silk produced by their larvae to build their nests. This behaviour is one of the more notable instances of social cooperation in animals; however, there are few studies of Brazilian species. This study investigated the ecology, natural history and behaviour of the weaver ant Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) senex in Brazil and showed that the weaver larvae have a fundamental function in nest building. The nests were always arboreal (one nest/plant), with a round form, beige in colour, and with leaves and shoots adhered to the silk nest. The average size was 34.24 cm and the average weight was 163.87 g; nests contained up to 50,000 individuals and several queens. Fusion and fission of colony parts were observed for C. senex. Worker ants were frequently observed feeding on honeydew, fruits and insects; and defended their territory. We suggest that C. senex larvae could be considered an effective caste, valuable in nest construction.

Ecology and behaviour of the weaver ant Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) senex

We investigated the diversity of ants in a tropical savanna area, searching for differences according to environment variables (landscape and seasonality). The ant fauna sampling was made monthly in open cerrado and in closed cerrado. The samples were made with sardine baits in four distinct combined conditions (soil / vegetation, diurnal / nocturnal), during two periods (dry and wet season). A total of 72 ant species were collected, (18 genera and six subfamilies) Camponotus and Pheidole were the most common genera. The major diversity values were found for open areas, diurnal period and for vegetation substrate. Assembly analyses revealed the composition of two groups, the genera that were most frequent in the soil and the other group that was most frequent in vegetation. There was no seasonal difference in the occurrence of genera. Compared to other savannas, the ant fauna in this area can be considered relatively rich.

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The ant fauna in a cerrado area : The influence of vegetation structure and seasonality (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

1. Variation in plant phenology allows plants to escape from herbivory. Insect herbivores manipulate their host plants by producing shelters, which they inhabit, and are protected against natural enemies and/or unfavourable environmental conditions. Environmental modifications induced by living organisms are characterised as ecosystem engineering.



2. In the Brazilian savanna, the interaction between the Malpighiaceae shrub, Byrsonima intermedia, and its main herbivore, the caterpillar Cerconota achatina, a shelter-building organism, was studied.



3. It was focused on whether the phenological development of the host plant affects the caterpillars' infestation, and whether C. achatina acts as an ecosystem engineer by building shelters. All plant variables (number of leaves, flowers, buds, fruits and herbivores) were measured fortnightly. Phenological data were correlated with climatic information. The impact of the caterpillars acting as ecosystem engineers was measured experimentally.



4. Infestation levels of C. achatina covaried with the phenology of their host plant B. intermedia. It suggests that plant phenology might be an important factor in determining the abundances of this ecosystem engineer species.

Host plant phenology may determine the abundance of an ecosystem engineering herbivore in a tropical savanna

Ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the most abundant interacting organisms in the Neotropics, being considered excellent models for studies of ecological interactions. These mutualisms have been studied for more than 150 years. The first studies on this subject addressed the indirect benefit of the presence of ants on plants, reducing the foliar herbivory in most cases. Recently, the direct and indirect benefits of these interactions for ants and for EFNs-bearing plants survivorship, growth and reproduction, have shown conditionality to spatial and temporal variations. Here, we reviewed how the topic “protection mutualism in ant-plant interactions mediated by EFNs” has been approached more recently. A great number of papers dealing with this theme have been published in the last 30 years and new perspectives have emerged in the last decade. We showed how scientific and academic areas are working to improve the knowledge on protection mutualisms considering ant-plant ecological networks and how they can shape communities. Furthermore, we discuss some aspects related with the EFNs evolutionary hypotheses, the existence of conditionalities in ant-plant protection mutualism mediated by EFNs, and we provide some perspectives to inspire new studies that will help in the understanding of these fascinating ecological interactions.

/pdf/protection-mutualism-an-overview-of-ant-plant-interactions-2s1sskb2zf.pdf

Protection mutualism: an overview of ant-plant interactions mediated by extrafloral nectaries

Plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are common in the Brazilian cerrado savanna, where climatic conditions having marked seasonality influence arboreal ant fauna organization. These ant-plant interactions have rarely been studied at community level. Here, we tested whether: 1) EFN-bearing plants are more visited by ants than EFN-lacking plants; 2) ant visitation is higher in the rainy season than in dry season; 3) plants producing young leaves are more visited than those lacking young leaves in the rainy season; 4) during the dry season, plants with old leaves and flowers are more visited than plants with young leaves and bare of leaves or flowers; 5) the composition of visiting ant fauna differs between plants with and without EFNs. Field work was done in a cerrado reserve near Uberlândia, MG State, Brazil, along ten transects (total area 3,000 m2), in the rainy (October-January) and dry seasons (April-July) of 2010-2011. Plants (72 species; 762 individuals) were checked three times per season for ant presence. Results showed that 21 species (29%) and 266 individuals (35%) possessed EFNs. These plants attracted 38 ant species (36 in rainy, 26 in dry season). In the rainy season, plants with EFNs had higher ant abundance/richness than plants without EFNs, but in the dry season, EFN presence did not influence ant visitation. Plant phenology affected ant richness and abundance in different ways: plants with young leaves possessed higher ant richness in the rainy season, but in the dry season ant abundance was higher on plants possessing old leaves or flowers. The species composition of plant-associated ant communities, however, did not differ between plants with and without EFNs in either season. These findings suggest that the effect of EFN presence on a community of plant-visiting ants is context dependent, being conditioned to seasonal variation.

/pdf/temporal-variation-in-the-abundance-and-richness-of-foliage-4zxvp6py1a.pdf

Kleber Del-Claro

Papers

Ecology and behaviour of the weaver ant Camponotus (Myrmobrachys) senex

The ant fauna in a cerrado area : The influence of vegetation structure and seasonality (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Host plant phenology may determine the abundance of an ecosystem engineering herbivore in a tropical savanna

Protection mutualism: an overview of ant-plant interactions mediated by extrafloral nectaries

Temporal Variation in the Abundance and Richness of Foliage-Dwelling Ants Mediated by Extrafloral Nectar