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Intraspecific variation in the status of ant symbiosis on a myrmecophyte, Macaranga bancana, between primary and secondary forests in Borneo

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Population Ecology

Abstract

A tree species, Macaranga bancana , distributed in South East Asian tropics has a mutualistic relationship with specific symbiotic ant species, which defend the plant from herbivores. To examine the intraspecific variation in the status of the ant-plant symbiosis among microhabitats of different light conditions, we investigated the species composition of nesting ants and the herbivory damage on M. bancana saplings by field observations and sampling in primary and secondary forests in Sarawak. In addition, the effectiveness of non-ant (physical and chemical) defenses were estimated by feeding the larvae of a polyphagous lepidopteran with M. bancana leaves from saplings in the two types of forests. All saplings in the primary forest were colonized by two Crematogaster ant species that had been known to be the obligate symbionts of M. bancana, while in the secondary forest, about half of the saplings were occupied by several ant species that were not obligate symbionts. There was little herbivory damage on saplings colonized by the two Crematogaster symbiont ants in both forest types, while the saplings colonized by the other ant species suffered a 10–60% loss of leaf area. Larval mortality of the polyphagous lepidopteran Spodoptera litura was significantly higher when larvae fed on leaves of M. bancana saplings in the secondary forest than when fed on leaves of M. bancana saplings in the primary forest. These results suggest that the symbiosis between ants and M. bancana is looser and the non-ant-defenses are stronger in secondary forests, where light is more intense, than in primary forests.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Hua Seng Lee, Tohru Nakashizuka and Takayuki Ohgushi for providing support and assistance for this study. We also thank Abang A. Hamid and Sarkawi M. Umar and the staff of Entomological Unit of Forest Research Centre, Sarawak for providing research facilities. We are grateful to Takao Itino and Aya Hatada for fruitful discussions. Diane W. Davidson is acknowledged for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Tomoaki Ichie and Michiko Nakagawa for help in the field. This work was supported partly by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for International Scientific Research (#10041163) and by CREST of JST (Japan Science and Technology Corporation).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, 464–8601, Nagoya, Japan

    Kaori Murase & Takao Itioka

  2. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Ôtsu, Japan

    Masahiro Nomura

  3. Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

    Seiki Yamane

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  1. Kaori Murase
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  2. Takao Itioka
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  3. Masahiro Nomura
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  4. Seiki Yamane
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Correspondence to Takao Itioka.

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Murase, K., Itioka, T., Nomura, M. et al. Intraspecific variation in the status of ant symbiosis on a myrmecophyte, Macaranga bancana, between primary and secondary forests in Borneo. Popul Ecol 45, 221–226 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-003-0158-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-003-0158-4

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