Limited ant co-occurrence and defensive mutualism in Acacia plants in a West African savanna.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Djogbenou A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8255073 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Mutualisms can be exploited by parasites-species that obtain resources from a partner but provide no services. Though the stability of mutualisms in the presence of such parasites is under intensive investigation, we have little information on life history traits that allow a species to be a successful mutualist or rather a parasite, particularly in cases where both are closely related. We studied the exploitation of Acacia myrmecophytes by the ant, Pseudomyrmex gracilis, contrasting with the mutualistic ant Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus. P. gracilis showed no host-defending behavior and had a negative effect on plant growth. By preventing the mutualist from colonization, P. gracilis imposes opportunity costs on the host plant. P. gracilis produced smaller colonies with a higher proportion of alates than did the mutualist and thus showed an "r-like" strategy. This appears to be possible because P. gracilis relies less on host-derived food resources than does the mutualist, as shown by behavioral and stable isotope studies. We discuss how this system allows the identification of strategies that characterize parasites of mutualisms.
| S-EPMC2755793 | biostudies-other
Project description:Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses can enhance our understanding of multispecies interactions by placing the origin and evolution of such interactions in a temporal and geographical context. We use a phylogenomic approach-ultraconserved element sequence capture-to investigate the evolutionary history of an iconic multispecies mutualism: Neotropical acacia ants (Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus group) and their associated Vachellia hostplants. In this system, the ants receive shelter and food from the host plant, and they aggressively defend the plant against herbivores and competing plants. We confirm the existence of two separate lineages of obligate acacia ants that convergently occupied Vachellia and evolved plant-protecting behaviour, from timid ancestors inhabiting dead twigs in rainforest. The more diverse of the two clades is inferred to have arisen in the Late Miocene in northern Mesoamerica, and subsequently expanded its range throughout much of Central America. The other lineage is estimated to have originated in southern Mesoamerica about 3 Myr later, apparently piggy-backing on the pre-existing mutualism. Initiation of the Pseudomyrmex/Vachellia interaction involved a shift in the ants from closed to open habitats, into an environment with more intense plant herbivory. Comparative studies of the two lineages of mutualists should provide insight into the essential features binding this mutualism.
| S-EPMC5360922 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Three ant species nest obligately in the swollen-thorn domatia of the African ant-plant Vachellia (Acacia) drepanolobium, a model system for the study of ant-defence mutualisms and species coexistence. Here we report on the characteristic fungal communities generated by these ant species in their domatia. First, we describe behavioural differences between the ant species when presented with a cultured fungal isolate in the laboratory. Second, we use DNA metabarcoding to show that each ant species has a distinctive fungal community in its domatia, and that these communities remain characteristic of the ant species over two Kenyan sampling locations separated by 190 km. Third, we find that DNA extracted from female alates of Tetraponera penzigi and Crematogaster nigriceps contained matches for most of the fungal metabarcodes from those ant species' domatia, respectively. Fungal hyphae and other debris are also visible in sections of these alates' infrabuccal pockets. Collectively, our results indicate that domatium fungal communities are associated with the ant species occupying the tree. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of such ant-specific fungal community-level differences on the same myrmecophytic host species. These differences may be shaped by ant behaviour in the domatia, and by ants vectoring fungi when they disperse to establish new colonies. The roles of the fungi with respect to the ants and their host plant remain to be determined.
| S-EPMC5360918 | biostudies-literature
Project description:(1) Background: Termites are important ecosystem engineers, crucial for the maintenance of tropical biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. But they are also pests which cause billions of dollars in damage annually to humans. Currently, our understanding of the mechanisms influencing species occurrences is limited and we do not know what distinguishes pest from non-pest species. (2) Method: We analyzed how anthropogenic disturbance (agriculture) affects species occurrences. We tested the hypothesis that strong disturbance functions as a habitat filter and selects for a subset of species which are major pests of crop. Using a cross-sectional approach, we studied termite assemblage composition along a disturbance gradient from fields to 12-year-old fallows in a West African savanna. (3) Results: We reliably identified 19 species using genetic markers with a mean of about 10 species-many of them from the same feeding type-co-occurring locally. Supporting our hypothesis, disturbance was associated with environmental filtering of termites from the regional species pool, maybe via its effect on vegetation type. The most heavily disturbed sites were characterized by a subset of termite species which are well-known pests of crop. (4) Conclusion: These results are in line with the idea that strong anthropogenic disturbance selects for termite pest species.
| S-EPMC6358944 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Insects and other animals commonly form symbioses with heritable bacteria, which can exert large influences on host biology and ecology. The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, is a model for studying effects of infection with heritable facultative symbionts (HFS), and each of its seven common HFS species has been reported to provide resistance to biotic or abiotic stresses. However, one common HFS, called X-type, rarely occurs as a single infection in field populations and instead typically superinfects individual aphids with Hamiltonella defensa, another HFS that protects aphids against attack by parasitic wasps. Using experimental aphid lines comprised of all possible infection combinations in a uniform aphid genotype, we investigated whether the most common strain of X-type provides any of the established benefits associated with aphid HFS as a single infection or superinfection with H. defensa We found that X-type does not confer protection to any tested threats, including parasitoid wasps, fungal pathogens, or thermal stress. Instead, component fitness assays identified large costs associated with X-type infection, costs which were ameliorated in superinfected aphids. Together these findings suggest that X-type exploits the aphid/H. defensa mutualism and is maintained primarily as a superinfection by "hitchhiking" via the mutualistic benefits provided by another HFS. Exploitative symbionts potentially restrict the functions and distributions of mutualistic symbioses with effects that extend to other community members.IMPORTANCE Maternally transmitted bacterial symbionts are widespread and can have major impacts on the biology of arthropods, including insects of medical and agricultural importance. Given that host fitness and symbiont fitness are tightly linked, inherited symbionts can spread within host populations by providing beneficial services. Many insects, however, are frequently infected with multiple heritable symbiont species, providing potential alternative routes of symbiont maintenance. Here we show that a common pea aphid symbiont called X-type likely employs an exploitative strategy of hitchhiking off the benefits of a protective symbiont, Hamiltonella Infection with X-type provides none of the benefits conferred by other aphid symbionts and instead results in large fitness costs, costs lessened by superinfection with Hamiltonella These findings are corroborated by natural infections in field populations, where X-type is mostly found superinfecting aphids with Hamiltonella Exploitative symbionts may be common in hosts with communities of heritable symbionts and serve to hasten the breakdown of mutualisms.
| S-EPMC5377491 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The West African forest-savanna mosaic, an important habitat for biodiversity and humans, is severely degraded, fragmented and modified by human activities. However, few studies have quantified the land cover changes observed over time and/or analysed the drivers of change. This study focused on Fazao-Malfakassa National Park, the largest in Togo, uses a combination of remote sensing, ground surveys and questionnaires to: (i) quantify vegetation changes, (ii) determine the drivers of change, (iii) compare results with findings elsewhere in the region and (iv) suggest management interventions. The images used were Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM and Sentinel-2. Different vegetation indices were computed including: number of fragments, index of dominance, mean area of a vegetation type and mean annual expansion rate. In total, 300 people (including park staff and local populations) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results indicate that between 1987 and 2015 closed-canopy forest and tree-savanna became severely degraded and fragmented, following trends in other parts of the West African forest-savanna mosaic. The main drivers of change were agricultural expansion, bush fires and timber extraction. Observed changes and drivers altered with time: e.g. agricultural expansion was greatest during 1987-2001 (linked with political instability) while illegal timber extraction augmented during 2001-2015 (following increased timber value). Park staff and local populations' perceptions on drivers of change did not differ. Our study highlights that action is urgently needed if we are to preserve this important habitat, the biodiversity it hosts and the services it provides to humans. We suggest several management interventions, learning from successful interventions elsewhere in the region.
| S-EPMC6173393 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Understanding people's practices, knowledge and perceptions of the use of fire and fire regimes can inform fire management plans that could contribute to savanna conservation and sustainable management. We investigated the frequency of fire use, control and perceptions of fire regimes for selected livelihood and socio-cultural activities in six districts in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The six districts were selected to have a good representation of fire prone areas in the region based on fire frequency data obtained from the CSIR Meraka Institute, South Africa. A multiple regression analysis showed that people's use of fire for the selected socio-cultural activities from district, occupation, gender, age and ethnic group significantly predicted fire use for the activities R2 = 0.043, F (5,498) = 5.43, p < 0.000. Age and occupation added significantly to the use of fire. The study revealed that the majority of respondents (83%) across the study districts used fire once a year for at least one of the following activities: land preparation, weed/pest control, burning postharvest stubble, bush clearing around homesteads, firebreaks, charcoal burning and hunting. The study also showed a higher frequency of fire use for land preparation for cropping than for the other activities. Less than a fifth of the respondents (17%) indicated that they do not use fire for any of the selected activities. The majority of respondents (65%) mentioned that they controlled their use of fire to prevent destruction to property or injuring humans. The study revealed a higher frequency of fire use in the dry season for land preparation for cropping. However, respondents rated season of burning as the most important attribute, with little attention to the other attributes of a fire regime, contrary to what is theoretically recognized. Understanding traditional fire use practices in terms of how to regulate the mix of frequency, intensity/severity, season, size and type of fire for these and other socio-cultural purposes could help to mitigate and/or manage bushfires in West African savannas and enhance savanna conservation and management. Hence, the need to better understand people's knowledge and perceptions of fire regimes in fire assisted socio-cultural practices in West Africa.
| S-EPMC9119518 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Polyploidy is a common phenomenon in the evolution of angiosperms. It has been suggested that polyploids manage harsh environments better than their diploid relatives but empirical data supporting this hypothesis are scarce, especially for trees. Using microsatellite markers and flow cytometry, we examine the frequency of polyploids and diploids in a progeny trial testing four different populations of Acacia senegal, a species native to sub-Saharan regions of Africa. We compare growth between cytotypes and test whether polyploid seedlings grow better than diploids. Our results show that polyploids coexist with diploids in highly variable proportions among populations in Senegal. Acacia senegal genotypes were predominantly diploid and tetraploid, but triploid, pentaploid, hexaploid, and octaploid forms were also found. We find that polyploids show faster growth than diploids under our test conditions: in an 18 years old field trial, polyploid superiority was estimated to be 17% in trunk diameter and 9% in height while in a growth chamber experiment, polyploids grew 28% taller, but only after being exposed to drought stress. The results suggest that polyploid A. senegal can have an adaptive advantage in some regions of Africa.
| S-EPMC4906048 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Acacia drepanolobium (also known as Vachellia drepanolobium) ant-plant symbiosis is considered a classic case of species coexistence, in which four species of tree-defending ants compete for nesting space in a single host tree species. Coexistence in this system has been explained by trade-offs in the ability of the ant associates to compete with each other for occupied trees versus the ability to colonize unoccupied trees. We seek to understand the proximal reasons for how and why the ant species vary in competitive or colonizing abilities, which are largely unknown. In this study, we use RADseq-derived SNPs to identify relatedness of workers in colonies to test the hypothesis that competitively dominant ants reach large colony sizes due to polygyny, that is, the presence of multiple egg-laying queens in a single colony. We find that variation in polygyny is not associated with competitive ability; in fact, the most dominant species, unexpectedly, showed little evidence of polygyny. We also use these markers to investigate variation in mating behavior among the ant species and find that different species vary in the number of males fathering the offspring of each colony. Finally, we show that the nature of polygyny varies between the two commonly polygynous species, Crematogaster mimosae and Tetraponera penzigi: in C. mimosae, queens in the same colony are often related, while this is not the case for T. penzigi. These results shed light on factors influencing the evolution of species coexistence in an ant-plant mutualism, as well as demonstrating the effectiveness of RADseq-derived SNPs for parentage analysis.
| S-EPMC5792509 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Ant-hemipteran mutualism has been well documented, and many studies have reported the interference competition between ant species for the mutualism. However, little is known on how this interference competition impacts the reciprocally beneficial association. Previous studies demonstrated that the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) has established close mutual relationship with the ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius). The sympatric ants, Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) and Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) were frequently observed to compete for nutrient honeydew produced by P. solenopsis with T. melanocephalum. Herein, we investigated the effects of interference competition between the ant species on the ant-mealybug interactions. Phenacoccus solenopsis benefited from the tending by T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis. Interference competition between T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis interrupted the mutualism, suppressed the trailing activity of both species, but negligibly influenced the parasitism of Aenasius bambawalei Hayat, a solitary endoparasitoid of P. solenopsis. Harmonia axyridis, a predator of P. solenopsis, showed a significant avoidance when encountering with T. melanocephalum or P. longicornis, but not T. bicarinatum. Ant workers showed higher aggressiveness and lower exploratory activity when T. melanocephalum encountered P. longicornis. However, competition between T. melanocephalum and T. bicarinatum seldom influenced the trailing and exploratory activity of T. melanocephalum. It is concluded that interference competition for mutualism between ant species can mediate ant-mealybug associations and the fitness of mealybug colony. Our results also demonstrate that the effects of interference competition between ant species on ant-mealybug mutualism are varied among ant species.
| S-EPMC7073949 | biostudies-literature