Supplementary Files
Keywords
nests
restoration
refuse piles
propagules
mirmecocoria
nidos
restauración
basureros
propágulos
How to Cite
Abstract
Seed dispersal is a key process in the re-establishment of vegetation on reclaimed lands. The aim of this study was to determine the contributions of the ant species Ectatomma ruidum and Pheidole fallax to seed dispersal and germination on reclaimed lands in the Cerrejón coal mine, Colombia. Four 6 x 40 m plots were installed in each area, in which the number of nests by species was counted and distances between closest nests of each species were measured. Five of the nests counted were chosen for seed extraction, and a nearby control sample was taken from each nest. In total, 295 nests were counted: 59 nests during the dry season and 236 nests during the rainy season, of which 84 belonged to P. fallax and 211 belonged to E. ruidum. A total of 21 304 seeds were found in nests and control samples, of which 19 349 were obtained from P. fallax nest refuse, and 318 were obtained from E. ruidum nests; 597 seeds were found in control samples. The number of seeds extracted from nests was significantly higher than the number of seeds removed from control samples. There was a significant difference between the number of seeds removed by P. fallax and the number of seeds removed by E. ruidum. The seed germination percentage from nests was higher than the percentage from seeds in control samples. In the case of P. fallax, the germination percentage was lower in control samples and higher in nests and refuse. The results suggest that the ant species E. ruidum and P. fallax may contribute to seed dispersal and re-establishment of vegetation in areas where they were found. These ants may thus significantly contribute to restoration processes in areas degraded by mining.
References
Armstrong, R. D., Kuskopf, B. J., Millar, G., Whitbread, A. M., & Standley, J. (1999). Changes in soil chemical and physical properties following legumes and opportunity cropping on a cracking clay soil. Animal Production Science, 39, 445-456.
Beattie, A. J. (1985). The evolutionary ecology of ant-plant mutualisms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beattie, A. (1989). The effects of ants on grasslands. In L. F. Huenneke, & H. A. Mooney (Eds.), Grassland structure and function (pp. 105-116). USA: Springer.
Breed, M. D., Abel, P., Bleuze, T. J., & Scott, E. D. (1990). Thievery, home ranges, and nestmate recognition in Ectatomma ruidum. Oecologia, 84, 117-121.
Breed, M. D., McGlynn, T. P., Stocker, E. M., & Klein, A. N. (1999). Thief workers and variation in nestmate recognition behavior in a ponerine ant, Ectatomma ruidum. Insectes Sociaux, 46, 327-331.
Christianini, A. V., Mayhé-Nunes, A. J., & Oliveira, P. S. (2007). The role of ants in the removal of non-myrmecochorous diasporas and seed germination in a neotropical savanna. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 23, 343-351.
Christianini, A. V., & Oliveira, P. S. (2010). Birds and ants provide complementary seed dispersal in a neotropical savanna. Journal of Ecology, 98, 573-582.
Christianini, A. V., Mayhé-Nunes, A. J., & Oliveira, P. S. (2012). Exploitation of Fallen Diaspores by Ants: Are there Ant–Plant Partner Choices? Biotropica, 44, 360-367.
Delabie, J. H. C., Ospina, M., & Zabala, G. (2003). Relaciones entre hormigas y plantas: una introducción. En F. Fernández (Ed.), Introducción a las Hormigas de la Región Neotropical (Capítulo 10, pp. 167-180). Bogotá, Colombia: Instituto de Investigación de Recursos biológicos Alexander von Humboldt Bogotá.
Domínguez-Haydar, Y., & Armbrecht, I. (2011). Response of ants and their seed removal in rehabilitation areas and forests at El Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia. Restoration Ecology, 19, 178-184.
Dufrene, M., & Legendre, P. (1997). Species Assemblages and Indicator Species: The Need for a Flexible Asymmetrical Approach. Ecological Monographs, 67, 345-366.
Escobar, S., Armbrecht, I., & Calle, Z. (2007). Transporte de semillas por hormigas en bosques y agroecosistemas ganaderos de los Andes Colombianos. Agroecología, 2, 65-74.
Escobar-Ramírez, S., Duque, S., Henao, N., Hurtado-Giraldo, A., & Armbrecht, I. (2012). Removal of Nonmyrmecochorous Seeds by Ants: Role of Ants in Cattle Grasslands. Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 1-8.
Farnese, F. S., Mângia, S., & Fonseca, G. A. (2011). Mirmecocoria: uma revisão. Revista Eletrônica de Biologia, 3, 53-65.
Figueroa, Y., & Galeano, G. (2007). Lista comentada de las plantas vasculares del enclave seco interandino de La Tatacoa (Huila, Colombia). Caldasia, 29, 263-281.
García-Robledo, C., & Kuprewicz, E. K. (2009). Vertebrate Fruit Removal and Ant Seed Dispersal in the Neotropical Ginger Renealmia alpinia (Zingiberaceae). Biotropica, 41, 209-214.
Giladi, I. (2006). Choosing benefits or partners: a review of the evidence for the evolution of myrmecochory. Oikos, 112, 481-492.
Gomez, C., Espadaler, X., & Bas, J. M. (2005). Ant behaviour and seed morphology: a missing link of myrmecochory. Oecologia, 146, 244-246.
Gualdrón, R. (2011). Hacia la rehabilitación de las tierras intervenidas por la minería a cielo abierto. Colombia: Cerrejón.
Hammer, Ø. (2015). PAleontological STatistics (PAST) (Versión 3.10). Recuperado de http://folk.uio.no/ohammer/past/
Howe, H. F., & Smallwood, J. (1982). Ecology of seed dispersal. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 13, 201-228.
Itzkowitz, M., & Haley, M. (1983). The food retrieval tactics of the ant Pheidole fallax Mayr. Insectes Sociaux, 30, 317-322.
Jaimes, G. & Moreno, M. (2014). Componente botánico. En L. Báez & F. Trujillo (Eds.), Biodiversidad en Cerrejón (pp. 57-81). Bogotá, Colombia: Carbones de Cerrejón, Fundación Omacha, Fondo para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez.
Leal, I. R. (2003). Dispersão de sementes por formigas na Caatinga. En I. R. Leal, M. Tabarelli, & J. M. Cardoso (Eds.), Ecologia e Conservacao da Caatinga (pp. 593-624). Brasil: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.
Leal, I. R., Wirth, R., & Tabarelli, M. (2007). Seed dispersal by ants in the semi-arid Caatinga of north-east Brazil. Annals of Botany, 99, 885-894.
Levey, D. J., & Byrne, M. M. (1993). Complex ant-plant interactions: rain-forest ants as secondary dispersers and post-dispersal seed predators. Ecology, 74, 1802-1812.
Lôbo, D., Tabarelli, M., & Leal, I. R. (2011). Relocation of Croton sonderianus (Euphorbiaceae) seeds by Pheidole fallax Mayr (Formicidae): a case of post-dispersal seed protection by ants? Neotropical Entomology, 40, 440-444.
Medina, C. (1994). Nidificación y patrones de distribución espacial de nidos de hormigas en una sabana tropical, Carimagua: LLanos Orientales de Colombia. Boletín del Museo de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle, 2, 31-42.
Montoya, D., Roge, L., & Memmott, J. (2012). Emerging perspectives in the restoration of biodiversity-based ecosystem services. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 27, 666-672.
Oliveira, P. S., Galetti, M., Pedroni, F., & Morellato, P. (1995). Seed cleaning by Mycocepurus goeldii ants (Attini) facilitates germination in Hymenaea courbaril (Caesalpiniaceae). Biotropica, 27, 518-522.
Passos, L., & Oliveira, P. S. (2003). Interactions between ants, fruits and seeds in a restinga forest in south-eastern Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 19, 261-270.
Pizo, M. A., & Oliveira, P. S. (2000). The Use of Fruits and Seeds by Ants in the Atlantic Forest of Southeast Brazil 1. Biotropica, 32, 851-861.
Pizo, M. A., & Oliveira, P. S. (2001). Size and lipid content of nonmyrmecochorous diaspores: effects on the interaction with litter-foraging ants in the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil. Plant Ecology, 157, 37-52.
Pizo, M. A., Passos, L., & Oliveira, P. S. (2004). Ants as seed dispersers of fleshy diaspores in Brazilian Atlantic forests. En P. M. Forget, J. E. Lambert., P. E. Hulme, & S. B Vander-Wall (Eds.), Seed fate: Predation and secondary dispersal. Wallingford: CABI Publishing (pp. 315-329). Wallingford, Oxfordshire: CABI Publishing.
Pizo, M. A. (2008). The Use of Seeds by a Twig-Dwelling Ant on the Floor of a Tropical Rain Forest. Biotropica, 40, 119-121.
R Development Core Team. (2014). R a language and environment for statistical computing (Versión 3.1.1). Vienna, Austria: R foundation for Statistical Computing. Recuperado de http://www.R-project.org/
Redolfi, I., Tinaut, A., Pascual, F., & Campos, M. (2004). Densidad de nidos de la comunidad de hormigas (Formicidae) en tres olivares con diferente manejo agronómico en Granada, España. Ecología Aplicada, 3, 73-81.
Riera-Valera, M., & Pérez-Sánchez, A. J. (2009). Notas acerca de la dieta de Ectatomma ruidum (Roger 1861) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) en un jardín venezolano. Boletín Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa, 44, 550-552.
Salas, J. S., Ybarra, E. J., Moreno, M. P., Rivas, J. F., & Pérez, G. M. (2010). Estrategias germinativas de las semillas en ambientes áridos. Revista Chapingo Serie Zonas Áridas, 9, 35-38.
Santamaría, C., Armbrecht, I., & Lachaud, J. P. (2009a). Nest Distribution and Food Preferences of Ectatomma ruidum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Shaded and Open Cattle Pastures of Colombia. Sociobiology, 53, 517-541.
Santamaría, C., Domínguez Haydar, Y., & Armbrecht, I. (2009b). Cambios en la distribución de nidos y abundancia de la hormiga Ectatomma ruidum (Roger 1861) en dos zonas de Colombia. Boletín del Museo de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle, 10, 10-18.
Torres, G., Zapote, C. A., & López, F. (2013a). Guía técnica para el reconocimiento y la identificación de semillas de maleza en pastos de Brasil. México: Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo rural, Pesca y Alimentación.
Torres, G., Zapote, C. A., & López, F. (2013b). Guía técnica para la identificación de semillas de malezas en Alpiste. México: Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación.
Wilson, E. O. (2003). Pheidole in the New World: a dominant, hyperdiverse ant genus. London, England: Harvard University Press.
Zelikova, T. J., & Breed, M. D. (2008). Effects of habitat disturbance on ant community composition and seed dispersal by ants in a tropical dry forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 24, 309-316.
Comments
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2017 Revista de Biología Tropical