The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus‐cultivar provisioning in free‐ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant
| Autor: | Antonin J.J. Crumière, Riikka Rinnan, Jonathan Z. Shik, Sophie Mallett, Aidan James, Anders Michelsen, Pol Lannes |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
ecophysiology Niche Foraging Atta colombica Generalist and specialist species 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences leafcutter ants Crop 03 medical and health sciences fundamental and realised niches Animals Herbivory Cultivar Symbiosis Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences Herbivore nutritional geometry biology herbivory Ants Ecology fungus Fungi biology.organism_classification Plant Leaves Agronomy Leafcutter ant |
| Zdroj: | Crumière, A J J, James, A, Lannes, P, Mallett, S, Michelsen, A, Rinnan, R & Shik, J Z 2021, ' The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus-cultivar provisioning in free-ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant ', Ecology Letters, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 2439-2451 . https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13865 |
| ISSN: | 1461-0248 1461-023X |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ele.13865 |
| Popis: | Foraging trails of leafcutter colonies are iconic scenes in the Neotropics, with ants collecting freshly cut plant fragments to provision a fungal food crop. We hypothesised that the fungus-cultivar's requirements for macronutrients and minerals govern the foraging niche breadth of Atta colombica leafcutter ants. Analyses of plant fragments carried by foragers showed how nutrients from fruits, flowers and leaves combine to maximise cultivar performance. While the most commonly foraged leaves delivered excess protein relative to the cultivar's needs, in vitro experiments showed that the minerals P, Al and Fe may expand the leafcutter foraging niche by enhancing the cultivar's tolerance to protein-biased substrates. A suite of other minerals reduces cultivar performance in ways that may render plant fragments with optimal macronutrient blends unsuitable for provisioning. Our approach highlights how the nutritional challenges of provisioning a mutualist can govern the multidimensional realised niche available to a generalist insect herbivore. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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