Investigating the transfer of seeds through ants (Myrmecochory) in Tang-e- Sayad Protected area of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province

Fazelian, Sepideh; Asadi, Esmaeil; Tahmasebi, Pejman

[Home ] [Archive]

[ فارسی ]

Main Menu

Home

Journal Information

Articles archive

For Authors

For Reviewers

Registration

Contact us

Site Facilities

Search in website

Receive site information

Volume 11, Issue 22 (9-2023)

PEC 2023, 11(22): 64-82

Back to browse issues page

Investigating the transfer of seeds through ants (Myrmecochory) in Tang-e- Sayad Protected area of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province

Sepideh Fazelian¹

, Esmaeil Asadi ^*

, Pejman Tahmasebi³

1- Shahrekord, Rahbar Blvd., Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences
Rangeland and Watershed Department, Faculty of Natural Resources and Rangeland Sciences, Shahrekord University, Rangeland and Watershed Department, Faculty of Natural Resources and Rangeland Sciences, Shahrekord University , esmaeila@yahoo.com
3- Rangeland and Watershed Department, Faculty of Natural Resources and Rangeland Sciences, Shahrekord University

Abstract: (1500 Views)

Seed dispersal by ants is one of the methods of seed dispersal that leads to an increase in plant diversity and plant coexistence at the local scale. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the number of plant species, plant families transported by ants, and comparing the genus and species of ants transporting seeds, in Teng-e-Sayad area of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. Study areas for collecting ant nest samples include three animal grazing management zones: 1- National Park 2- Protected Area 3- Free Grazing Area. Sampling was done in each study area from the soil related to 3 ant nests in each of the sites from 0 to 5 cm deep. Sampling was done in 2018 during the three months of July, August and Septamber in the study areas. In this experiment, 5 genera and 12 species of ants were identified. The results showed that a total of 62 plant species belonging to 15 plant families were transported by ants, of which 36 plant species were jointly transported by ants in all three regions. The results showed that there is only a significant difference between the ant genera Camponotus and Cataglyphis and also between the two genera Camponotus and Tetramorium (P<0.05). The results showed that the genus Messor, as a predatory ant, has transmitted 19 plant species that have nothing in common with other ant genera, and this ant genus has transmitted a large number of plant species compared to other ant genera. According to the results of this research, Messor can be considered as an ant that transmits a large number of plant species and species seeds and has an important effect on the diversity and presence of species in the vegetation composition.

Article number: 5

Keywords: Seed dispersal, National park, Plant germination, Myrmecochory

Full-Text [PDF 856 kb] (345 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2022/10/23 | Accepted: 2023/03/3 | Published: 2023/09/22

References

1. Alejandro, G., Farji, B., Wictoria, W. 2017.The effects of ant nsts on soil fertility and plant performance: a meta- analysis. Jornal of Animal Ecology, 86, 866-877.

2. Bakker, J. P., Poschlod, P., Strykstra, R. J., Bekker, R. M. and Thompson, K. 1996. Seed banks and seed dispersal: important topics in restoration. Ecology. Acta Botanica Neerlandica, 45: 461-490.

3. Barrett, C,. 1927: Ant life in Central Australia. – Victorian Nat-uralist 44: 209-212.

4. Bolton, B,. (1994) Identication guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press.

5. Boyd, R. S. 2001. Ecolodical Benefits of myrmecochory for the Endangered Chaparral Shrub Fremontodendron decumbens (Sterculiaceae). 234 American Journal of Botany 88(2): 234–241. 2001.

6. Brian, M.V. 1978. Production Ecology of Ants and Termites. IBP 13, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge. University Press.

7. Buisson, E., Dutoit, T., Torre, F., Römermann, C., Poschlod, P. 2006. The implications of seed rain and seed bank patterns for plant succession at the edges of abandoned fields in Mediterranean landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 115: 6-14.

8. Crist, T.O., Macmahon, J.A. 1992. Harvester ant foraging and shrub-steppe seeds: interactions of seed resources and seed use. – Ecology 73: 1768-1779.

9. Davidson, D. W., Morton, S. R. (1981). Myrmecochory in some plants 0f the Australian arid zone. Oecologia 50, 35766. Ecology of Plants 199, 389-397.

10. Farji-Brener,A.G. and Werenkraut,V.2015. A meta- analysis of leaf-cuting ant nest effects on soil fertility and plant performance. Entomology, 40,150-158.

11. Fenner, M., Thompson, K. 2005. The ecology of seeds. Cambridge University press, Cambridge, UK, 250p.

12. Folgarait, P.J., Perelman, S., Gorosito, N., Pizzio, R. (1997). Effect of Camponouts punctulatus ants on plant community composition and soil across land use histories. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. 10±14 August, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. p. 88.

13. Hof, C., Levinsky, I., Araújo, M. B. Rahbek, C. (2011) Rethinking species' ability to cope with rapid climate change. Global Change Biology 17, 2987-2990.

14. International Seed Testing Association. 1999. International Rules for Seed Testing. Seed Science and Technology, 27 Supplement 333pp.

15. Johnson, R.A,. 2001: Biogeography and community structure of North American seed-harvester ants. – Annual Review of En-tomology 46: 1-29.

16. Kovár, p., Pavel, P., Stanislav, B., Jaroslav, v. 2014. Ants and plant species diversity in the carst grasslands. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268518425.

17. Lengyel, S., Gove, A.D., Latimer, A.M., Majer, J.D., Dunn, R.R. 2009. Ants ssow the seeds of global diversification in flowering plants. PLoS ONE =5: e5480. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005480.

18. Lengyel, S., Gove, A.D., Latimer, A.M., Majer, J.D., Dunn, R.R. 2010. Convergent evolution of seed dispersal by ants, and phylogeny and biogeography in flowering plants: a global survey. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 12: 43–55.

19. Lopez, F.,Acosta, F.J. Serrano, J.M. 1993a. Responses of the trunk routes of a harvester ant to plant density, Oecologia 93: 109-113.

20. Lopez, F., Acosta, F.J., Serrano, J.M. 1994. Guerilla vs. pha-lanx strategies of resource capture: growth and structural plasti-city in the trunk trail system of the harvester ant Messor barba-rus. – Journal of Animal Ecology, 63: 127-138.

21. Lopez, F., Serrano, J., Acosta, F.J. 1993b. Connection trails in the trunk trail systems of a harvester ant. – Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 14: 83-87.

22. Macmahon, J.A., Mull, J., Crist, T. 2000: Harvester ants (Po-gonomyrmex spp): their community and ecosystem influences. – Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 31: 265-291.

23. Motamedi, A., Jafari, A ., Zohdi, M. 2019. Management of Alhaji habitat in the salt marshes of Lake Urmia ( in pershian). Jorna lnatulalof Iran, 10.22092/IRI.2019.118675.

24. Narbonai, E., Ortiz, P. L., Arista, M. 2014. The possible advantage of myrmecochory in diplochorous species: A test on two Mediterranean Euphorbia species, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2014.983205.

25. Nicilai, N., Boeken, B. 2012: Harvester ants modify seed rain using nest vegetation and granivory. – Ecological Entomology, 37: 24-32.

26. Parmenter, R.R., MacMahon, J.A. 2009. Carrion decomposition and nutrient cycling in a semiarid shrub–steppe ecosystem. Ecological Monographs,79: 637–661.

27. Kovář, P., Pech, P., Boček, S., Vojta, J. 2014. Ants and plant species diversity in the carst grasslands, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268518425.

28. Prior, K.M., Saxena, K., Frederickson, M.E. 2014. Seed handing behaviours of native and invasive seed-dispersing ants differentially influence seedling emergence in an introduced plant. Ecological Entomology, 39:66-74.

29. Robert, W.P., Delilah, W.I. 1990. Elaiosomes on weed Seeds and the potential for myrmecochory in naturalized Plants. weed science, 1990. Volume, 38:615-619.

30. Rolf, Y. B. 1975. Myrmecochorous Plants in Australia and their Dispersal by Ants. Aust. J. Bot., 1975. 23: 475-508.

31. Sernander, R. 1906. Entwurf einer Monographie der europaischen Myrmekochoren. K. Sven. Vetenskapsakad. Handl. 41: 410 pp.

32. Wilby, A., Shachak, M. 2000. Harvester ant response to spatial and temporal heterogeneity in seed availability: pattern in the process of granivory. – Oecologia. 125: 495-503.

33. Woodell, S.R. 1984. Ant-hill vegetation in a Norfolk salt marsh. Oecologia 16: 221-225.

34. Zsofla,vP., Peter, G., Wayane, R. 2017. Seed dispersal distances by anta increase in response to anthropogenic disturbances in Australian roadside environments.Ecology and Evolution. doi: 103389/fevo.2017.00132.

Send email to the article author

Add your comments about this article

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Fazelian S, Asadi E, Tahmasebi P. Investigating the transfer of seeds through ants (Myrmecochory) in Tang-e- Sayad Protected area of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. PEC 2023; 11 (22) : 5
URL: http://pec.gonbad.ac.ir/article-1-884-en.html

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Volume 11, Issue 22 (9-2023)

Back to browse issues page

Persian site map - English site map - Created in 0.06 seconds with 35 queries by YEKTAWEB 4710