Frenemy at the gate: Invasion by Pheidole megacephala facilitates a competitively subordinate plant ant in Kenya.
Acacia drepanolobium
Pheidole megacephala
ant-plant
biodiversity
elephants
facilitation
herbivory
invasive species
mutualism breakdown
plant defense
Journal
Ecology
ISSN: 1939-9170
Titre abrégé: Ecology
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0043541
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
02 2021
02 2021
Historique:
received:
01
05
2020
revised:
17
07
2020
accepted:
14
09
2020
pubmed:
25
10
2020
medline:
27
4
2021
entrez:
24
10
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Biological invasions can lead to the reassembly of communities and understanding and predicting the impacts of exotic species on community structure and functioning are a key challenge in ecology. We investigated the impact of a predatory species of invasive ant, Pheidole megacephala, on the structure and function of a foundational mutualism between Acacia drepanolobium and its associated acacia-ant community in an East African savanna. Invasion by P. megacephala was associated with the extirpation of three extrafloral nectar-dependent Crematogaster acacia ant species and strong increases in the abundance of a competitively subordinate and locally rare acacia ant species, Tetraponera penzigi, which does not depend on host plant nectar. Using a combination of long-term monitoring of invasion dynamics, observations and experiments, we demonstrate that P. megacephala directly and indirectly facilitates T. penzigi by reducing the abundance of T. penzigi's competitors (Crematogaster spp.), imposing recruitment limitation on these competitors, and generating a landscape of low-reward host plants that favor colonization and establishment by the strongly dispersing T. penzigi. Seasonal variation in use of host plants by P. megacephala may further increase the persistence of T. penzigi colonies in invaded habitat. The persistence of the T. penzigi-A. drepanolobium symbiosis in invaded areas afforded host plants some protection against herbivory by elephants (Loxodonta africana), a key browser that reduces tree cover. However, elephant damage on T. penzigi-occupied trees was higher in invaded than in uninvaded areas, likely owing to reduced T. penzigi colony size in invaded habitats. Our results reveal the mechanisms underlying the disruption of this mutualism and suggest that P. megacephala invasion may drive long-term declines in tree cover, despite the partial persistence of the ant-acacia symbiosis in invaded areas.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e03230Informations de copyright
© 2020 by the Ecological Society of America.
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