Rice Univesrity Logo
    • FAQ
    • Deposit your work
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Plant size and reproductive state affect the quantity and quality of rewards to animal mutualists

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    jec12210.pdf
    Size:
    437.3Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open
    Author
    Miller, Tom E.X.
    Date
    2014
    Abstract
    Many plants engage ants in defensive mutualisms by offering extrafloral nectar (EFN). Identifying sources of variation in EFN quantity (amount) and quality (composition) is important because they can affect ant visitation and identity and hence effectiveness of plant defence. I investigated plant size and reproductive state (vegetative or flowering) as sources of variation in EFN quantity and quality. I focused on Opuntia imbricata and two ant partners, Crematogaster opuntiae and Liometopum apiculatum. I tested the influence of plant size and nectary type (vegetative vs. reproductive structure) on the probability and rate of EFN secretion, concentrations of total carbohydrates (CH) and amino acids (AAs), and relative abundances of constituent CH and AAs. I also examined how traits of individual nectaries scaled up to influence total plant-level rewards. Parallel observations documented associations between plant demographic state and ant visitation and species identity. EFN quantity and quality were generally greater for larger, reproductive plants. At the scale of individual nectaries, probability of EFN secretion was positively size-dependent and greater for nectaries on reproductive vs. vegetative structures. Rate of EFN secretion, carbohydrate and amino acid concentrations, and the relative abundance of disaccharide vs. monosaccharide sugars were greater for reproductive nectaries but were unaffected by plant size. Nectary-level traits scaled up to influence rewards at the whole-plant level in ways that corresponded to ant visitation: the probability of ant occupancy increased with plant size and reproduction, as did the likelihood of being tended by the superior guard, L. apiculatum. Variability in EFN traits may contribute to changes in ant occupancy and identity across plant sizes and reproductive states. Synthesis. This study provides a thorough examination of how plant investment in biotic defence varies over the life cycle. Explicit consideration of plant demography may enhance understanding of ant?plant mutualisms. Populations of long-lived plants are demographically heterogeneous, spanning sizes and reproductive states. The rewards offered to animal mutualists can track demographic heterogeneity with consequences for plant defence and the dynamics of multispecies mutualisms.
    Citation
    Miller, Tom E.X.. "Plant size and reproductive state affect the quantity and quality of rewards to animal mutualists." Journal of Ecology, 102, (2014) British Ecological Society: 496-507. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12210.
    Published Version
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12210
    Keyword
    ant-plant mutualism; biotic defence; demography; extrafloral nectar; invertase; More... ontogeny; plant development and life-history traits; stage structure Less...
    Type
    Journal article
    Publisher
    British Ecological Society
    Citable link to this page
    https://hdl.handle.net/1911/75571
    Rights
    Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Collections
    • EEB Faculty Publications [67]
    • Faculty Publications [4976]

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map

     

    Searching scope

    Browse

    Entire ArchiveCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map