Journal ArticleDOI
Redispersal of seeds by a keystone ant augments the spread of common wildflowers
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TLDR
A novel seed-tracking technique is used to quantify secondary dispersal of seeds from the nest into the surrounding leaf litter by the keystone seed-dispersing ant, Aphaenogaster rudis, and suggests myrmecochory benefits plants in eastern North American forests by increasing the distance between the seed and parent plant and reducing competition among siblings.Abstract:
Myrmecochory (dispersal of seeds by ants) is an evolutionarily and ecologically common mutualism. Most of the research on the costs and benefits of myrmecochory in North America assumes that ant-dispersed seeds are taken to, and left in, the ant nest. Here, we use a novel seed-tracking technique to quantify secondary dispersal of seeds from the nest into the surrounding leaf litter by the keystone seed-dispersing ant, Aphaenogaster rudis. We found that A. rudis redispersed >90% of the seeds it took into its nest an average distance of 51.5 cm. A mathematical model shows redispersal increases the rate of population spread of the myrmecochores Hexastylis arifolia and Asarum canadense by 22.5%, and increases the expected cumulative dispersal distance away from the parent plant by 24%. Our results suggest myrmecochory benefits plants in eastern North American forests by increasing the distance between the seed and parent plant and reducing competition among siblings.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The seed bank in soil from the nests of grassland ants in a unique limestone grassland community in Ireland
TL;DR: The seed content of nest soil of four species of ants Myrmica sabuleti, Lasius flavus, L. niger and Formica lemani was investigated in the semi-natural limestone grassland of the Burren, western Ireland to determine whether ants promote plant species richness.
Journal ArticleDOI
Invasive ants disperse seeds farther than native ants, affecting the spatial pattern of seedling recruitment and survival
TL;DR: It is shown that seed-dispersing ant partners differ in mutualist quality creating differences in dispersal distance and deposition location that affects a plant’s competitive environment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Vulnerable broom crowberry ( Corema conradii ) benefits from ant seed dispersal in coastal US heathlands
Erin Hilley,Rachel K. Thiet +1 more
TL;DR: The results suggest that ant seed disperseal confers important reproductive benefits to C. conradii by directing seed dispersal sufficient distances away from parent plants onto suitable substrates for germination after intense, episodic fires.
Journal ArticleDOI
Interactions between seed-dispersing ant species affect plant community composition in field mesocosms.
Kirsten M. Prior,Kirsten M. Prior,Shannon A. Meadley-Dunphy,Shannon A. Meadley-Dunphy,Megan E. Frederickson +4 more
TL;DR: It is shown that interspecific interaction between mutualist species in the same functional guild affects the outcome of mutualistic interactions with partner species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Incorporating redispersal microsites into myrmecochory in eastern North American forests
R. Kent Connell,R. Kent Connell,Alix A. Pfennigwerth,Aimée T. Classen,Aimée T. Classen,Charles Kwit +5 more
TL;DR: The field results indicate that soil biological processes are significantly different in near-nest soils, where the seeds are ultimately dispersed, and refuting any near-term advantages of directed dispersal to near-Nest locations is refuted.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Demography and dispersal: calculation and sensitivity analysis of invasion speed for structured populations
Michael G. Neubert,Hal Caswell +1 more
TL;DR: A discrete-time model for biological invasions is constructed that couples matrix population models (for population growth) with integrodifference equa- tions (for dispersal), and it is found that, when dispersal contains both long- and short-distance components, it is the long-distance component that governs the invasion speed-even when long- distance dispersal is rare.
Journal ArticleDOI
Seed dispersal and the holocene migration of woodland herbs
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the long-term spread of the understory herb Asarum canadense by ants and found that the largest distance ants are known to move the seeds of any woodland herb is up to 35 m.
Seed dispersal by white-tailed deer: implications for long-distance dispersal, invasion, and migration of plants
TL;DR: It is concluded that white-tailed deer represent a significant and previously unappreciated vector of seed dispersal across the North American landscape, probably contributing an important long-distance component to the seed shadows of hundreds of plant species, and providing a mechanism to help explain rapid rates of plant migration.
Journal ArticleDOI
Seed dispersal by white-tailed deer: implications for long-distance dispersal, invasion, and migration of plants in eastern North America
TL;DR: The authors investigated the potential for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm), the dominant large herbivore in much of eastern North America, to disperse seeds via endozoochory.
Journal ArticleDOI
Myrmecochory in viola: dynamics of seed-ant interactions in some west virginia species
TL;DR: There was no evidence of specialization of particular ant species on particular Viola species, and the advantage of ant dispersal is relocation to a 'safe site' for germination, thus reducing predation, increasing germination stimuli, and increasing the available supply of nutrients.