Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dspace.utpl.edu.ec/jspui/handle/123456789/18713
Title: Ant mutualism increases long-term growth and survival of a common amazonian tree
Authors: Baez Jacome , V.
Donoso Vargas, D.
Keywords: Age-structured populations
Ant-plant interactions
Duroia hirsuta
Mutualism
Myrmelachista schumanni
Ontogeny
metadata.dc.date.available: 2017-06-16T22:02:15Z
Issue Date: 1-Nov-2016
Publisher: American Naturalist
Abstract: How ecological context shapes mutualistic relationships remains poorly understood. We combined long-term tree census data with ant censuses in a permanent 25-ha Amazonian forest dynamics plot to evaluate the effect of the mutualistic ant Myrmelachista schumanni (Formicinae) on the growth and survival of the common Amazonian tree Duroia hirsuta (Rubiaceae), considering its interactions with tree growth, population structure, and habitat. We found that the mutualist ant more than doubled tree relative growth rates and increased odds of survival. However, host tree size and density of conspecific neighbors modified the effect of the ant. Smaller trees hosting the mutualist ant consistently grew faster when surrounded by higher densities of conspecifics, suggesting that the benefit to the tree outweighs any negative effects of high conspecific densities. Moreover, our findings suggest that the benefit afforded by the ant diminishes with plant age and also depends on the density of conspecific neighbors. We provide the first long-term large-scale evidence of how mutualism affects the population biology of an Amazonian tree species. © 2016 by The University of Chicago.
metadata.dc.identifier.other: 10.1086/688401
URI: http://dspace.utpl.edu.ec/handle/123456789/18713
ISBN: 30147
Other Identifiers: 10.1086/688401
Other Identifiers: 10.1086/688401
metadata.dc.language: Inglés
metadata.dc.type: Article
Appears in Collections:Artículos de revistas Científicas



Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.