Abstract
It has been reported that a suit of plant traits can regulate the ant-seed interaction and subsequently affect the seed dispersal. However, the role of plant volatiles in attracting the ants for seed dispersal remains little examined. We used a Y-tube olfactometer to test behavior response of a keystone seed-dispersing ant (Pristomyrmex pungens Mayr) to leaves and seeds of five co-occurring myrmecochorous Corydalis species (C. wilfordii Regel, C. racemosa (Thunberg) Persoon, C. sheareri S. Moore, C. balansae Prain and C. incisa (Thunberg) Persoon). Of the five species, only C. wilfordii and C. racemosa leaves emits heavily volatiles. We also performed seed cafeteria experiments to assess the effect of leaf volatiles from C. racemosa on seed retrieval by presenting simultaneously the seeds near the fresh leaf and the leaf immersed by diethyl ether both in the field and lab. The experiment using Y-tube showed that the ants were only significantly attracted by the fresh leaves of two species, C. wilfordii and C. racemosa. The cafeteria experiments showed that ants spent less time to detect the C. racemosa seeds which were near the fresh leaf, and transported these seeds more quickly. This indicated that the leaf volatiles can function as an attractant for the dispersing ants, and ant preference in turn enhance the seed retrieval. The findings reveal that leaf volatiles can play na important but underestimated role in shaping the ant-seed dispersing interactions.
Highlights
Myrmecochory is a common ecological interaction in nature
We performed seed cafeteria experiments to assess the effect of leaf volatiles from C. racemosa on seed retrieval by presenting simultaneously the seeds near the fresh leaf and the leaf immersed by diethyl ether both in the field and lab
The cafeteria experiments showed that ants spent less time to detect the C. racemosa seeds which were near the fresh leaf, and transported these seeds more quickly
Summary
Myrmecochory (i.e., seed dispersal by ants) is a common ecological interaction in nature. Ants benefit nutrition from elaiosomes attached to seeds and plants benefit from having their seeds dispersed (Beattie, 1985). The few existing results remain inconsistent (Borges, 2015), with ants being attracted by seed odor of Antgarden (AG) plant in Amazonian rainforests (Youngsteadt et al, 2008), but not for the myrmecochorous seeds Asarum canadense (Sheridan et al, 1996). Apart from odor-induced seed retrieval by ants, volatiles from vegetative parts such as leaves can mediate the interaction between ants and plants (Brouat et al, 2000; Pichersky & Gershenzon, 2002). Whether volatiles from vegetative organs such as leaves can attract the dispersing ants and such the effect of attractiveness it may has on subsequent seed retrieval remains largely unclear. We hypothesized that (1) leaf volatiles of Corydalis can function as an attractant for keystone seed-dispersing ant, and (2) the resultant attractiveness would influence seed collection
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