RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In dryland ecosystems, conifer species are threatened by more frequent and severe droughts, which can push species beyond their physiological limits. Adequate seedling establishment will be critical for future resilience to global change. We used a common garden glasshouse experiment to determine how seedling functional trait expression and plasticity varied among seed sources in response to a gradient of water availability, focusing on a foundational dryland tree species of the western USA, Pinus monophylla. We hypothesized that the expression of growth-related seedling traits would show patterns consistent with local adaptation, given clinal variation among seed source environments. METHODS: We collected P. monophylla seeds from 23 sites distributed across rangewide gradients of aridity and seasonal moisture availability. A total of 3320 seedlings were propagated with four watering treatments representing progressively decreasing water availability. Above- and below-ground growth-related traits of first-year seedlings were measured. Trait values and trait plasticity, here representing the degree of variation among watering treatments, were modelled as a function of watering treatment and environmental conditions at the seed source locations (i.e. water availability, precipitation seasonality). KEY RESULTS: We found that, under all treatments, seedlings from more arid climates had larger above- and below-ground biomass compared to seedlings from sites experiencing lower growing-season water limitation, even after accounting for differences in seed size. Additionally, trait plasticity in response to watering treatments was greatest for seedlings from summer-wet sites that experience periodic monsoonal rain events. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that P. monophylla seedlings respond to drought through plasticity in multiple traits, but variation in trait responses suggests that different populations are likely to respond uniquely to changes in local climate. Such trait diversity will probably influence the potential for future seedling recruitment in woodlands that are projected to experience extensive drought-related tree mortality.
Assuntos
Plântula , Árvores , Plântula/fisiologia , Ecossistema , Água , Sementes , Clima Desértico , SecasRESUMO
Intensifying drought conditions across the western United States due to global climate change are altering plant-insect interactions. Specialist herbivores must find their host plants within a matrix of nonhosts, and thus often rely upon specific plant secondary chemistry for host location and oviposition cues. Climate-induced alterations to plant chemistry could thus affect female selection of larval food plants. Here, we investigated whether host-plant water limitation influenced oviposition preference in a threatened invertebrate: the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). We found that females deposited more eggs on reduced-water than on well-watered narrowleaf milkweed plants (Asclepias fascicularis), but we could not attribute this change to any specific change in plant chemistry. Specialist herbivores, such as the monarch butterfly, which are tightly linked to specific plant cues, may experience shift in preferences under global-change conditions. Understanding oviposition preferences will be important to directing ongoing habitat restoration activities for this declining insect.
Assuntos
Asclepias , Borboletas , Feminino , Animais , Oviposição , Óvulo , LarvaRESUMO
Plants link interactions between aboveground and belowground organisms. Herbivore-induced changes in plant chemistry are hypothesized to impact entire food webs by changing the strength of trophic cascades. Yet, few studies have explored how belowground herbivores affect the behaviors of generalist predators, nor how such changes may act through diverse changes to the plant metabolome. Using a factorial experiment, we tested whether herbivory by root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita) affected the aboveground interaction among milkweed plants (Asclepias fascicularis or Asclepias speciosa), oleander aphids (Aphis nerii), and aphid-tending ants (Linepithema humile). We quantified the behaviors of aphid-tending ants, and we measured the effects of herbivore treatments on aphid densities and on phytochemistry. Unexpectedly, ants tended aphids primarily on the leaves of uninfected plants, whereas ants tended aphids primarily at the base of the stem of nematode-infected plants. In nematode-infected plants, aphids excreted more sugar per capita in their ant-attracting honeydew. Additionally, although plant chemistry was species-specific, nematode infection generally decreased the richness of plant secondary metabolites while acting as a protein sink in the roots. Path analysis indicated that the ants' behavioral change was driven in part by indirect effects of nematodes acting through changes in plant chemistry. We conclude that belowground herbivores can affect the behaviors of aboveground generalist ant predators by multiple paths, including changes in phytochemistry, which may affect the attractiveness of aphid honeydew rewards.
Assuntos
Formigas , Afídeos , Nematoides , Animais , Herbivoria , PlantasRESUMO
Evidence of spinal cord involvement in Powassan virus infection is largely limited to mouse models. We report a case of a polio-like illness caused by Powassan virus infection in a 62-year-old man in Canada. Magnetic resonance imaging showed T2 hyperintensities in the anterior horns of the cervical spinal cord.
Assuntos
Células do Corno Anterior/virologia , Vírus da Encefalite Transmitidos por Carrapatos , Encefalite Transmitida por Carrapatos/diagnóstico , Encefalite Transmitida por Carrapatos/virologia , Canadá/epidemiologia , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Eletromiografia , Encefalite Transmitida por Carrapatos/tratamento farmacológico , Encefalite Transmitida por Carrapatos/epidemiologia , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Poliomielite/diagnóstico , Poliomielite/virologia , Avaliação de SintomasRESUMO
Ants are a hugely diverse family of eusocial insects that dominate terrestrial ecosystems all over the planet. Did mutualistic gut microbes help ants to achieve their diversity and ecological dominance? Initial studies suggested the potential for widespread convergence in ant gut bacterial communities based on dietary niche, but it now seems possible that dedicated bacterial symbionts are restricted to a minority of ant lineages (Russell et al., ). Nevertheless, as most ants are omnivores, the evidence so far has suggested a broad, positive correlation between the evolution of dietary specialization and ant investment in nutrient-provisioning gut bacteria. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Sapountzis et al. () and Rubin et al. () examine the evolution of gut bacterial communities in two iconic ant taxa-the attine fungus farmers and the Pseudomyrmex plant bodyguards, respectively-in a comparative context. By comparing gut bacteria between ant species of differing dietary specialization within each taxon, these studies demonstrate a hint of convergence in the midst of widespread apparent constraints. These results raise numerous interesting questions about the nature of these apparent constraints and whether they are causes or consequences of varying investment by ants to mutualism with their gut microbes.
Assuntos
Formigas/microbiologia , Microbioma Gastrointestinal/fisiologia , Animais , Simbiose/fisiologiaRESUMO
Life on earth is enormously diverse, in part because each individual engages in countless interactions with its biotic and abiotic environment during its lifetime. Not only are there many such interactions, but any given interaction of each individual with, say, its neighbor or a nutrient could lead to a different effect on its fitness and on the dynamics of the population of which it is a member. Predicting those effects is an enduring challenge to the field of ecology. Using a simple laboratory system, Hoek and colleagues present evidence that resource availability can be a primary driver of variation between interactions. Their results suggest that a complex continuum of interaction outcomes can result from the simple combined effects of nutrient availability and density-dependent population dynamics. The future is rich with potential to integrate tractable experimental systems like theirs with hypotheses derived from studies of interactions in natural communities.
Assuntos
Vida , Modelos Teóricos , EcologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) treatment has been shown to control symptoms and improve overall satisfaction in patients with neurological disorders. However, a large injection volume can be overwhelming and a barrier to successful SCIg treatment. We established a nurse-led individualized approach program to facilitate a smooth and successful treatment transition from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) to SCIg. The program involved a lead nurse to provide two or more individual educational sessions on SCIg administration, establish a written transition plan, and liaise care with physicians. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the impact of our program to a successful transition defined as SCIg retention or adherence without a need to restart IVIg by six or twelve months. METHODS: We reviewed medical charts of all patients with immune-mediated neuromuscular disorders who were in our program during January 2010 to Dec 2016. RESULTS: Nineteen patients were identified. Mean IVIg treatment duration was 31.5 months (range 4-98) before the transition. Mean steady state SCIg dosage was 26.2 g/week (SD 10.3). All patients were initially able to switch to SCIg, with a retention rate of 17/19 (89.5%) at six months and 15/19 (78.9%) at twelve months. Two patients reverted back to IVIg treatment due to worsening of their symptoms at two and three months, while two required supplemental IVIg infusions. There were no major adverse events reported during the twelve-month period, but one minor cutaneous adverse event (redness around the injection site). CONCLUSIONS: Successful treatment transition may be achieved with the nurse led individualized approach program.
CONTEXTE: Il a été prouvé que les traitements à l'immunoglobuline par voie sous-cutanée (IgSC) permettent de contrôler les symptômes qui affectent des patients atteints de troubles neurologiques et d'améliorer leur satisfaction générale. Toutefois, de grands volumes injectés peuvent devenir accablants et représenter un obstacle à un traitement par IgSC qui soit efficace. Nous avons ainsi mis sur pied un programme reposant sur une approche individuelle et dirigé par du personnel infirmier afin de favoriser une transition en douceur efficace entre les traitements d'immunoglobuline par voie intraveineuse (IgIV) et ceux par IgSC. Un tel programme impliquait la présence d'une infirmière en chef chargée d'offrir deux séances de formation ou plus en ce qui concerne l'administration d'un traitement par IgSC mais aussi d'établir un plan écrit de transition entre les deux traitements et d'assurer une liaison avec les médecins traitants. OBJECTIFS: Nous avons cherché à évaluer l'impact de notre programme en matière de transition. C'est ainsi que nous avons voulu savoir dans quelle mesure un traitement par IgSC entraînait une forme d'adhésion thérapeutique en vertu de laquelle un traitement par IgIV n'était plus nécessaire au bout de six ou de 12 mois. MÉTHODES: Nous avons passé en revue les dossiers médicaux de tous les patients atteints de troubles neuromusculaires d'origine auto-immune ayant fait partie de notre programme de janvier 2010 à décembre 2016. RÉSULTATS: Au total, dix-neuf patients ont été sélectionnés. Avant d'amorcer notre transition, la durée moyenne d'un traitement par IgIV était de 31,5 mois (étendue : 4-98). La posologie moyenne à l'équilibre d'un traitement par IgSC était de 26,2 g/semaine (écart-type : 10,3). Au début, tous les patients ont été en mesure de passer à un traitement par IgSC, le taux d'adhésion étant de 89,5 % (17/19) au bout de six mois et de 78,9 % (15/19) au bout de douze mois. Deux patients ont recommencé à suivre un traitement par IgIV en raison d'une détérioration de leurs symptômes au bout de deux et de trois mois tandis que deux autres ont eu besoin d'injections à l'immunoglobuline additionnelles. Outre un seul événement indésirable mineur de nature cutanée, à savoir de la rougeur autour de la zone d'injection, aucun événement indésirable majeur n'a été signalé au cours de la période de transition de douze mois. CONCLUSIONS: Il est possible, au moyen d'un programme dirigé par une infirmière chef dont l'approche est individuelle, d'effectuer une transition efficace entre les deux traitements évoqués ci-dessus.
Assuntos
Imunoglobulinas/administração & dosagem , Doenças Neuromusculares/terapia , Medicina de Precisão/métodos , Resultado do Tratamento , Adulto , Idoso , Feminino , Humanos , Imunoglobulinas/uso terapêutico , Imunoglobulinas Intravenosas/uso terapêutico , Injeções Subcutâneas , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Cooperação do Paciente , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Animal social groups are complex systems that are likely to exhibit tipping points-which are defined as drastic shifts in the dynamics of systems that arise from small changes in environmental conditions-yet this concept has not been carefully applied to these systems. Here, we summarize the concepts behind tipping points and describe instances in which they are likely to occur in animal societies. We also offer ways in which the study of social tipping points can open up new lines of inquiry in behavioural ecology and generate novel questions, methods, and approaches in animal behaviour and other fields, including community and ecosystem ecology. While some behaviours of living systems are hard to predict, we argue that probing tipping points across animal societies and across tiers of biological organization-populations, communities, ecosystems-may help to reveal principles that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Assuntos
Comportamento Animal , Comportamento Social , Animais , EcossistemaRESUMO
Ants have long been renowned for their intimate mutualisms with trophobionts and plants and more recently appreciated for their widespread and diverse interactions with microbes. An open question in symbiosis research is the extent to which environmental influence, including the exchange of microbes between interacting macroorganisms, affects the composition and function of symbiotic microbial communities. Here we approached this question by investigating symbiosis within symbiosis. Ant-plant-hemipteran symbioses are hallmarks of tropical ecosystems that produce persistent close contact among the macroorganism partners, which then have substantial opportunity to exchange symbiotic microbes. We used metabarcoding and quantitative PCR to examine community structure of both bacteria and fungi in a Neotropical ant-plant-scale-insect symbiosis. Both phloem-feeding scale insects and honeydew-feeding ants make use of microbial symbionts to subsist on phloem-derived diets of suboptimal nutritional quality. Among the insects examined here, Cephalotes ants and pseudococcid scale insects had the most specialized bacterial symbionts, whereas Azteca ants appeared to consume or associate with more fungi than bacteria, and coccid scale insects were associated with unusually diverse bacterial communities. Despite these differences, we also identified apparent sharing of microbes among the macro-partners. How microbial exchanges affect the consumer-resource interactions that shape the evolution of ant-plant-hemipteran symbioses is an exciting question that awaits further research.
Assuntos
Formigas/microbiologia , Bactérias , Fungos , Hemípteros/microbiologia , Plantas , Simbiose , Animais , Costa RicaRESUMO
Predictable effects of resource availability on plant growth-defense strategies provide a unifying theme in theories of direct anti-herbivore defense, but it is less clear how resource availability modulates plant indirect defense. Ant-plant-hemipteran interactions produce mutualistic trophic cascades when hemipteran-tending ants reduce total herbivory, and these interactions are a key component of plant indirect defense in most terrestrial ecosystems. Here we conducted an experiment to test how ant-plant-hemipteran interactions depend on nitrogen (N) availability by manipulating the presence of ants and aphids under different N fertilization treatments. Ants increased plant flowering success by decreasing the densities of herbivores, and the effects of ants on folivores were positively related to the density of aphids. Unexpectedly, N fertilization produced no changes in plant N concentrations. Plants grown in higher N grew and flowered more, but aphid honeydew chemistry stayed the same, and neither the density of aphids nor the rate of ant attraction per aphid changed with N addition. The positive effects of ants and N addition on plant fitness were thus independent of one another. We conclude that N was the plant's limiting nutrient and propose that addition of the limiting nutrient is unlikely to alter the strength of mutualistic trophic cascades.
Assuntos
Formigas/fisiologia , Herbivoria , Nitrogênio/metabolismo , Animais , Afídeos/fisiologia , SimbioseRESUMO
Plants reward microbial and animal mutualists with carbohydrates to obtain nutrients, defense, pollination, and dispersal. Under a fixed carbon budget, plants must allocate carbon to their mutualists at the expense of allocation to growth, reproduction, or storage. Such carbon trade-offs are indirectly expressed when a plant exhibits reduced growth or fecundity in the presence of its mutualist. Because carbon regulates the costs of all plant mutualisms, carbon dynamics are a common platform for integrating these costs in the face of ecological complexity and context dependence. The ecophysiology of whole-plant carbon allocation could thus elucidate the ecology and evolution of plant mutualisms. If mutualisms are costly to plants, then they must be important but frequently underestimated sinks in the terrestrial carbon cycle.
Assuntos
Carbono/metabolismo , Ecossistema , Plantas/metabolismo , Simbiose/fisiologia , Ciclo do CarbonoRESUMO
Abiotic environmental variables strongly affect the outcomes of species interactions. For example, mutualistic interactions between species are often stronger when resources are limited. The effect might be indirect: water stress on plants can lead to carbon stress, which could alter carbon-mediated plant mutualisms. In mutualistic ant-plant symbioses, plants host ant colonies that defend them against herbivores. Here we show that the partners' investments in a widespread ant-plant symbiosis increase with water stress across 26 sites along a Mesoamerican precipitation gradient. At lower precipitation levels, Cordia alliodora trees invest more carbon in Azteca ants via phloem-feeding scale insects that provide the ants with sugars, and the ants provide better defense of the carbon-producing leaves. Under water stress, the trees have smaller carbon pools. A model of the carbon trade-offs for the mutualistic partners shows that the observed strategies can arise from the carbon costs of rare but extreme events of herbivory in the rainy season. Thus, water limitation, together with the risk of herbivory, increases the strength of a carbon-based mutualism.
Assuntos
Formigas/fisiologia , Cordia/fisiologia , Desidratação , Hemípteros/fisiologia , Animais , Metabolismo dos Carboidratos , Cordia/parasitologia , Costa Rica , Herbivoria , Interações Hospedeiro-Parasita , México , Modelos Biológicos , Nicarágua , Chuva , SimbioseRESUMO
In horizontally transmitted mutualisms, mutualists disperse separately and reassemble in each generation with partners genetically unrelated to those in the previous generation. Because of this, there should be no selection on either partner to enhance the other's reproductive output directly. In symbiotic ant-plant mutualisms, myrmecophytic plants host defensive ant colonies, and ants defend the plants from herbivores. Plants and ants disperse separately, and, although ant defence can indirectly increase plant reproduction by reducing folivory, it is unclear whether ants can also directly increase plant reproduction by defending seeds. The neotropical tree Cordia alliodora hosts colonies of Azteca pittieri ants. The trees produce domatia where ants nest at stem nodes and also at the node between the peduncle and the rachides of the infloresence. Unlike the stem domatia, these reproductive domatia senesce after the tree fruits each year. In this study, I show that the tree's resident ant colony moves into these ephemeral reproductive domatia, where they tend honeydew-producing scale insects and patrol the nearby developing fruits. The presence of ants significantly reduced pre-dispersal seed predation by Amblycerus bruchid beetles, thereby directly increasing plant reproductive output.
Assuntos
Formigas/fisiologia , Besouros/fisiologia , Cordia/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Simbiose , Animais , Herbivoria , México , Caules de Planta/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Sementes/crescimento & desenvolvimentoAssuntos
Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/complicações , Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/etiologia , Cistos Glanglionares/complicações , Dor/complicações , Dor/etiologia , Feminino , Transtornos Neurológicos da Marcha/diagnóstico por imagem , Cistos Glanglionares/diagnóstico por imagem , Humanos , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Fibras Nervosas/metabolismo , Fibras Nervosas/patologia , Proteínas de Neurofilamentos/metabolismo , Dor/diagnóstico por imagemRESUMO
Cooperative interactions may frequently be reinforced by "partner fidelity feedback," in which high- or low-quality partners drive positive feedbacks with high or low benefits for the host, respectively. Benefits of plant-animal mutualisms for plants have been quantified almost universally in terms of growth or reproduction, but these are only two of many sinks to which a host-plant allocates its resources. By investigating how partners to host-plants impact two fundamental plant resources, carbon and water, we can better characterize plant-partner fidelity and understand how plant-partner mutualisms may be modulated by resource dynamics. In Laikipia, Kenya, four ant species compete for Acacia drepanolobium host-plants. These ants differ in multiple traits, from nectar consumption to host-plant protection. Using a 5-year ant removal experiment, we compared carbon fixation, leaf water status, and stem non-structural carbohydrate concentrations for adult ant-plants with and without ant partners. Removal treatments showed that the ants differentially mediate tree carbon and/or water resources. All three ant species known to be aggressive against herbivores were linked to benefits for host-plant resources, but only the two species that defend but do not prune the host, Crematogaster mimosae and Tetraponera penzigi, increased tree carbon fixation. Of these two species, only the nectivore C. mimosae increased tree simple sugars. Crematogaster nigriceps, which defends the tree but also castrates flowers and prunes meristems, was linked only to lower tree water stress approximated by pre-dawn leaf water potential. In contrast to those defensive ants, Crematogaster sjostedti, a poor defender that displaces other ants, was linked to lower tree carbon fixation. Comparing the effects of the four ant species across control trees suggests that differential ant occupancy drives substantial differences in carbon and water supply among host trees. Our results highlight that ant partners can positively or negatively impact carbon and/or water relations for their host-plant, and we discuss the likelihood that carbon- and water-related partner fidelity feedback loops occur across ant-plant mutualisms.
Assuntos
Acacia , Formigas , Simbiose , Animais , HerbivoriaRESUMO
The Neotropical myrmecophytic tree Cordia alliodora hosts symbiotic Azteca ants in most of its widespread range. The taxonomy of the genus Azteca is notoriously difficult, which has frequently obscured species identity in ecological studies. We used sequence data from one mitochondrial and four nuclear loci to infer phylogenetic relationships, patterns of geographic distribution, and timing of diversification for 182 colonies of five C. alliodora-dwelling Azteca species from Mexico to Colombia. All morphological species were recovered as monophyletic, but we identified at least five distinct genetic lineages within the most abundant and specialized species, Azteca pittieri. Mitochondrial and nuclear data were concordant at the species level, but not within species. Divergence time analyses estimated that C. alliodora-dwelling Azteca shared a common ancestor approximately 10-22million years ago, prior to the proposed arrival of the host tree in Middle America. Diversification in A. pittieri occurred in the Pleistocene and was not correlated with geographic distance, which suggests limited historical gene flow among geographically restricted populations. This contrasts with the previously reported lack of phylogeographic structure at this spatial scale in the host tree. Climatic niches, and particularly precipitation-related variables, did not overlap between the sites occupied by northern and southern lineages of A. pittieri. Together, these results suggest that restricted gene flow among ant populations may facilitate local adaptation to environmental heterogeneity. Differences in population structure between the ants and their host trees may profoundly affect the evolutionary dynamics of this widespread ant-plant mutualism.
Assuntos
Formigas/genética , Genética Populacional , Filogenia , Filogeografia , Adaptação Biológica/genética , Animais , Evolução Biológica , Núcleo Celular/genética , América Central , Clima , DNA Mitocondrial/genética , Fluxo Gênico , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Análise de Sequência de DNARESUMO
The effects of herbivory on plant fitness are integrated over a plant's lifetime, mediated by ontogenetic changes in plant defense, tolerance, and herbivore pressure. In symbiotic ant-plant mutualisms, plants provide nesting space and food for ants, and ants defend plants against herbivores. The benefit to the plant of sustaining the growth of symbiotic ant colonies depends on whether defense by the growing ant colony outpaces the plant's growth in defendable area and associated herbivore pressure. These relationships were investigated in the symbiotic mutualism between Cordia alliodora trees and Azteca pittieri ants in a Mexican tropical dry forest. As ant colonies grew, worker production remained constant relative to ant-colony size. As trees grew, leaf production increased relative to tree size. Moreover, larger trees hosted lower densities of ants, suggesting that ant-colony growth did not keep pace with tree growth. On leaves with ants experimentally excluded, herbivory per unit leaf area increased exponentially with tree size, indicating that larger trees experienced higher herbivore pressure per leaf area than smaller trees. Even with ant defense, herbivory increased with tree size. Therefore, although larger trees had larger ant colonies, ant density was lower in larger trees, and the ant colonies did not provide sufficient defense to compensate for the higher herbivore pressure in larger trees. These results suggest that in this system the tree can decrease herbivory by promoting ant-colony growth, i.e., sustaining space and food investment in ants, as long as the tree continues to grow.
Assuntos
Formigas , Comportamento Animal , Cordia/fisiologia , Herbivoria , Simbiose , Animais , Cordia/crescimento & desenvolvimento , México , Folhas de Planta/fisiologia , Densidade Demográfica , ÁrvoresRESUMO
The net benefits of mutualism depend directly on the costs and effectiveness of mutualistic services and indirectly on the interactions that affect those services. We examined interactions among Cordia alliodora myrmecophytic trees, their symbiotic ants Azteca pittieri, coccoid hemipterans, and foliar herbivores in two Neotropical dry forests. The tree makes two investments in symbiotic ants: it supplies nesting space, as domatia, and it provides phloem to coccoids, which then produce honeydew that is consumed by ants. Although higher densities of coccoids should have higher direct costs for trees, we asked whether higher densities of coccoids can also have higher indirect benefits for trees by increasing the effectiveness of ant defense against foliar herbivores. We found that trees benefited from ant defense against herbivores. Ants defended trees effectively only when colonies reached high densities within trees, and ant and coccoid densities within trees were strongly positively correlated. The benefits of reduced foliar herbivory by larger ant colonies were therefore indirectly controlled by the number of coccoids. Coccoid honeydew supply also affected per capita ant aggression against tree herbivores. Ants experimentally fed a carbohydrate-rich diet, analogous to sugar obtained from coccoids, were more aggressive against caterpillars per capita than ants fed a carbohydrate-poor diet. Ant defense was more effective on more valuable and vulnerable young leaves than on older leaves. Young domatia, associated with young leaves, contained higher coccoid densities than older domatia, which suggests that coccoids may also drive spatially favorable ant defense of the tree. If higher investments by one mutualistic partner are tied to higher benefits received from the other, there may be positive feedback between partners that will stabilize the mutualism. These results suggest that higher investment by trees in coccoids leads to more effective defense by ants against the tree's foliar herbivores.
Assuntos
Formigas/fisiologia , Cordia/fisiologia , Hemípteros/fisiologia , Simbiose/fisiologia , Animais , Comportamento Animal , Ecossistema , Densidade DemográficaRESUMO
Male orchid bees collect volatiles, from both floral and non-floral sources, that they expose as pheromone analogues (perfumes) during courtship display. The chemical profile of these perfumes, which includes terpenes and aromatic compounds, is both species-specific and divergent among closely related lineages. Thus, fragrance composition is thought to play an important role in prezygotic reproductive isolation in euglossine bees. However, because orchid bees acquire fragrances entirely from exogenous sources, the chemical composition of male perfumes is prone to variation due to environmental heterogeneity across habitats. We used Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) to characterize the perfumes of 114 individuals of the green orchid bee (Euglossa aff. viridissima) sampled from five native populations in Mesoamerica and two naturalized populations in the southeastern United States. We recorded a total of 292 fragrance compounds from hind-leg extracts, and found that overall perfume composition was different for each population. We detected a pronounced chemical dissimilarity between native (Mesoamerica) and naturalized (U.S.) populations that was driven both by proportional differences of common compounds as well as the presence of a few chemicals unique to each population group. Despite these differences, our data also revealed remarkable qualitative consistency in the presence of several major fragrance compounds across distant populations from dissimilar habitats. In addition, we demonstrate that naturalized bees are attracted to and collect large quantities of triclopyr 2-butoxyethyl ester, the active ingredient of several commercially available herbicides. By comparing incidence values and consistency indices across populations, we identify putative functional compounds that may play an important role in courtship signaling in this species of orchid bee.
Assuntos
Abelhas/química , Geografia , Odorantes/análise , Orchidaceae/química , Animais , Abelhas/genética , Abelhas/metabolismo , Ecossistema , Masculino , Especificidade da Espécie , VolatilizaçãoRESUMO
Bushmeat hunting has reduced population sizes of large frugivorous vertebrates throughout the tropics, thereby reducing the dispersal of seeds. This is believed to affect tree population dynamics, and therefore community composition, because the seed dispersal of large-seeded trees depends upon large-bodied vertebrates.We report on a long-running study of the effect of defaunation on a tropical tree community. In three censuses over 11 years, we compared sapling recruitment between a hunted and a nonhunted site, which are nearby and comparable to one another, to determine the extent to which species composition has changed through time following defaunation. We expected to find a reduced abundance of tree species that rely on large frugivores for dispersal at the hunted site and altered community structure as a consequence.Although community composition at the hunted site diverged from that at the nonhunted site, the changes were independent of dispersal syndrome, with no trend toward a decline in species that are dispersed by large, hunted vertebrates. Moreover, the loss of large-bodied dispersers did not generate the changes in tree community composition that we hypothesized. Some species presumed to rely on large-bodied frugivores for dispersal are effectively recruiting despite the absence of their dispersers.Synthesis: The presumption that forests depleted of large-bodied dispersers will experience rapid, directional compositional change is not fully supported by our results. Altered species composition in the sapling layer at the hunted site, however, indicates that defaunation may be connected with changes to the tree community, but that the nature of these changes is not unidirectional as previously assumed. It remains difficult to predict how defaunation will affect tree community composition without a deeper understanding of the driving mechanisms at play.