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- W386744490 abstract "Ants are key players in ecosystem function, especially in the tropics, yet little is known about the diversity and behavior of tropical ant communities. In a lowland wet forest of La Selva, Costa Rica ants are the primary predators of over a third of the sizes of birddispersed seeds. Dominated by the tribes Attini, Pheidolini and Solenopsidini, 35-38 species of ant preyed on seeds or seed baits. This is the most diverse granivorous ant community yet recorded, with the high diversity associated with higher population densities, smaller colony sizes and smaller body sizes than North American granivorous ant communities. The size of a frugivore dropping is isometric with the size of the bird producing it, and decreases with rain. Ant predation on these droppings was highly variable in time and space. Discovery and recruitment to droppings increased with dropping size as predicted by simple models. However, partial predation of large droppings produced the highest seed mortality at intermediate-size droppings. Seeds were found in 29% of meter-square samples of ant nests, suggesting seed rain was not highly localized. Small droppings were used by the greatest variety of species--this corresponded to observations of ant aggression at the largest droppings. Niche breadth increased with body size for both seed size and microclimate. Large ants foraged in a greater range of Vapor Pressure Deficits than small ants, as predicted by the law of surface area to volume. Large ants also took a greater variety of seed sizes than small ants, aided through intraspecific size matching in the large species (mostly attines). The tendency for small ant species to have niches nested within those of large ant species highlights the need to understand how body size and colony size influence interactions in ant communities. Chapter 1 Predation on frugivore droppings: Ant responses to seed number 9 In a neotropical rain forest over 90% of the shrubs and trees may rely on frugivores to disperse their seeds (Frankie et al 1974). Studies of plant-frugivore interactions have focused on how the frugivore's foraging behavior and mobility affect the seed's germination site (Howe and Smallwood 1982, Wheelwright and Orians 1982, Martin 1985, Moermond and Denslow 1985). Yet seeds in frugivore droppings may confront a variety of predators prior to germination. What happens between deposition and germination? These seeds are likely to encounter ants. Over 40 species of ants harvest seed particles at the La Selva field station in Costa Rica (Kaspari Chapter 3) where densities may exceed 800 ants /m2 (Holldobler and Wilson 1990). Ants are widely recognized as important seed predators in deserts (Tevis 1958, Brown et al 1975, Mares and Rosenzweig 1978, Davidson et aI1985). Less is known about ant diversity and impact in the tropics (Andrews 1982, Risch and Carroll 1986). Seeds in the neotropics may be a dependable resource for the ant assemblage: 49 seeds may rain on a meter2 of litter per month (Denslow and Gomez-Diaz 1990). If these seeds vary in local density this variation may constitute a niche axis enhancing ant species diversity (Davidson 1977, Brown 1990, reviewed in Kaspari Chapter 4). So the rules used by ants to discover, recruit to, and defend droppings with different numbers of seeds may have consequences both for the seeds and the ants that feed on them. Here I explore what determines the number of seeds/dropping in a lowland Costa Rican wet forest. I test behavioral models that predict how seeds/dropping influences seed" @default.
- W386744490 created "2016-06-24" @default.
- W386744490 creator A5056981031 @default.
- W386744490 date "1992-01-01" @default.
- W386744490 modified "2023-09-23" @default.
- W386744490 title "Niche relationships in an assemblage of neotropical granivorous ants." @default.
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