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From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions
Ant–seed interactions take several forms, including dispersal, predation, and parasitism, whereby ants consume seed appendages without dispersal of seeds. We hypothesized that these interaction outcomes could be predicted by ant and plant traits and habitat, with outcomes falling along a gradient of...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6194306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30377488 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4377 |
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author | Penn, Hannah J. Crist, Thomas O. |
author_facet | Penn, Hannah J. Crist, Thomas O. |
author_sort | Penn, Hannah J. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Ant–seed interactions take several forms, including dispersal, predation, and parasitism, whereby ants consume seed appendages without dispersal of seeds. We hypothesized that these interaction outcomes could be predicted by ant and plant traits and habitat, with outcomes falling along a gradient of cost and benefit to the plant. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a global literature review and classified over 6,000 pairs of ant–seed interactions from 753 studies across six continents. Linear models showed that seed and ant size, habitat, and dispersal syndrome were the most consistent predictors. Predation was less likely than parasitism and seed dispersal among myrmecochorous plants. A classification tree of the predicted outcomes from linear models revealed that dispersal and predation formed distinct categories based on habitat, ant size, and dispersal mode, with parasitism outcomes forming a distinct subgroup of predation based on seed size and shape. Multiple correspondence analysis indicated some combinations of ant genera and plant families were strongly associated with particular outcomes, whereas other ant–seed combinations were much more variable. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ant and plant traits are important overall predictors of potential seed fates in different habitat types. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6194306 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-61943062018-10-30 From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions Penn, Hannah J. Crist, Thomas O. Ecol Evol Review Ant–seed interactions take several forms, including dispersal, predation, and parasitism, whereby ants consume seed appendages without dispersal of seeds. We hypothesized that these interaction outcomes could be predicted by ant and plant traits and habitat, with outcomes falling along a gradient of cost and benefit to the plant. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a global literature review and classified over 6,000 pairs of ant–seed interactions from 753 studies across six continents. Linear models showed that seed and ant size, habitat, and dispersal syndrome were the most consistent predictors. Predation was less likely than parasitism and seed dispersal among myrmecochorous plants. A classification tree of the predicted outcomes from linear models revealed that dispersal and predation formed distinct categories based on habitat, ant size, and dispersal mode, with parasitism outcomes forming a distinct subgroup of predation based on seed size and shape. Multiple correspondence analysis indicated some combinations of ant genera and plant families were strongly associated with particular outcomes, whereas other ant–seed combinations were much more variable. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ant and plant traits are important overall predictors of potential seed fates in different habitat types. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018-07-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6194306/ /pubmed/30377488 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4377 Text en © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Review Penn, Hannah J. Crist, Thomas O. From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title | From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title_full | From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title_fullStr | From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title_full_unstemmed | From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title_short | From dispersal to predation: A global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
title_sort | from dispersal to predation: a global synthesis of ant–seed interactions |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6194306/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30377488 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4377 |
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