Summary
A major hypothesis concerning the benefits of myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants, to plants is that ant nests are nutrient-enriched microsites that are beneficial to seedling growth. We experimentally test this hypothesis for a neotropical myrmecochore, Calathea ovandensis, asking two questions: 1) is soil of nests of a seed-dispersing ant chemically or structurally distinct from surrounding soils, and 2) do seedlings grow better in soil collected from ant nests than in randomly collected soil? We found that although ant-nest soil was significantly enriched in nitrate-nitrogen, magnesium, iron, manganese, cadmium and percent organic matter compared to randomly collected soil, seedling growth was not significantly improved by ant-nest soil.
References
Beattie AJ (1983) Distribution of ant-dispersed plants. Sonderbd naturwiss Ver Hamburg 7:249–270
Beattie AJ, Culver DC (1982) Inhumation: how ants and other invertebrates help seeds. Nature 297:627
Beattie AJ, Culver DC (1983) The nest chemistry of two seed-dispersing ant species. Oecologia 56:99–103
Culver DC, Beattie AJ (1978) Myrmecochory in Viola: Dynamics of seed-ant interactions in some West Virginia species. J Ecol 66:53–72
Culver DC, Beattie AJ (1980) The fate of Viola seeds dispersed by ants. Am J Bot 67:710–714
Culver DC, Beattie AJ (1983) Effects of ant mounds on soil chemistry and vegetation patterns in a Colorado montane meadow. Ecology 64:485–492
Berg RY (1975) Myrmecochorous plants in Australia and their dispersal by ants. Aust J Bot 23:475–508
Davidson DW, Morton SR (1981) Myrmecochory in some plants (F. Chenopodiaceae) of the Australian arid zone. Oecologia (Berl) 50:357–366
Goodnight JH, Sall JP, Sarle WS (1982) SAS User's Guide: Statistics. SAS Institute, Cary, NC
Handel S (1978) The competitive relationship of three woodland sedges and its bearing on the evolution of ant-dispersal of Carex pedunculata. Evolution 32:151–163
Heithaus ER (1981) Seed predation by rodents on three ant-dispersed plant species. Ecology 62:136–145
Horvitz CC (1980) Seed dispersal and seedling demography of Calathea microcephala and Calathea ovandensis. Dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA
Horvitz CC (1981) Analysis of how ant behaviors affect germination in a tropical myrmecochore, Calathea microcephala (P.&E.) Koernicke (Marantaceae): Microsite selection and aril removal by neotropical ants: Odontomachus, Pachycondyla and Solenopsis (Formicidae). Oecologia (Berl) 51:47–52
Horvitz CC, Beattie AJ (1980) Ant dispersal of Calathea (Marantaceae) seeds by carnivorous ponerines (Formicidae) in a tropical rain forest. Am J Bot 67:321–326
Horvitz CC, Schemske DW (1984) Effects of ants and an anttended herbivore on seed production of a neotropical herb. Ecology 65:1369–1378
Horvitz CC, Schemske DW (1986a) Seed dispersal of a neotropical myrmecochore: Variation in removal rates and dispersal distances. Biotropica (in press)
Horvitz CC, Schemske DW (1986b) Seed dispersal and environmental heterogeneity in a neotropical herb: A model of patch and population dynamics. In: Estrada A, Fleming TH, Dirzo R (eds), Frugivores and seed dispersal. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague (in press)
O'Dowd DJ, Hay ME (1980) Mutualism between harvester ants and a desert ephemeral: seed escape from rodents. Ecology 61:531–540
Schemske DW, Horvitz CC (1984) Variation among floral visitors in pollination ability: A precondition for mutualism specialization. Science 225:519–521
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Horvitz, C.C., Schemske, D.W. Ant-nest soil and seedling growth in a neotropical ant-dispersed herb. Oecologia 70, 318–320 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379258
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379258