Drowning out the protection racket: partner manipulation or drought can strengthen ant–plant mutualism

Two recent reports discuss interactions between plants and ants that defend them from herbivores. Acacia trees provide their ant bodyguards with a diet that reduces their ability to benefit from alternate hosts. Provisioning of ants by Cordia trees during drought may buy insurance against extreme de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTrends in plant science Vol. 19; no. 7; pp. 411 - 413
Main Author Denison, R. Ford
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2014
Subjects
Acacia
Acacia - physiology
Animals
Ants - physiology
Behavior, Animal
Cordia
Cordia - physiology
Droughts
Formicidae
Herbivory
Plant Leaves - physiology
Symbiosis
Trees
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Summary:Two recent reports discuss interactions between plants and ants that defend them from herbivores. Acacia trees provide their ant bodyguards with a diet that reduces their ability to benefit from alternate hosts. Provisioning of ants by Cordia trees during drought may buy insurance against extreme defoliation events, not just average-year benefits.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1360-1385
1878-4372
DOI:10.1016/j.tplants.2014.04.008