Cardoso Priscila Bruno, Calixto Eduardo Soares, Torezan-Silingardi Helena Maura, Del-Claro Kleber
Postgraduation Program in Entomology, Department of Biology, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto 14040-900, SP, Brazil.
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Jay, FL 32583, USA.
Plants (Basel). 2023 Oct 26;12(21):3688. doi: 10.3390/plants12213688.
Context-dependence in mutualisms is a fundamental aspect of ecological interactions. Within plant-ant mutualisms, particularly in terms of biotic protection and pollination, research has predominantly focused on elucidating the benefits while largely overlooking potential costs. This notable gap underscores the need for investigations into the drawbacks and trade-offs associated with such mutualistic relationships. Here, we evaluated the role of pericarpial nectaries (PNs) in shaping the dynamics of ant-pollinator mutualisms. Specifically, we investigated whether ants visiting the PN of (Rubiaceae) could deter hummingbirds and disrupt pollination, ultimately influencing fruit production. Our research involved manipulative experiments and observation of ant-pollinator interactions on plants in the Brazilian savannah. We found that visiting ants can deter hummingbirds and/or disrupt pollination in , directly influencing fruit set. However, these results are species-specific. The presence of very aggressive, large predatory ants, such as , had a negative impact on hummingbird behavior, whereas aggressive mid-sized ants, such as , showed no effects. Our study illuminates the multifaceted aspects of ant-plant mutualisms and underscores the importance of evaluating costs and unexpected outcomes within these ecological relationships.
互利共生中的情境依赖性是生态相互作用的一个基本方面。在植物 - 蚂蚁互利共生关系中，特别是在生物保护和授粉方面，研究主要集中在阐明其益处，而在很大程度上忽略了潜在成本。这一显著差距凸显了对与此类互利共生关系相关的弊端和权衡进行调查的必要性。在此，我们评估了果皮蜜腺（PNs）在塑造蚂蚁 - 传粉者互利共生动态中的作用。具体而言，我们研究了访问茜草科植物的PNs的蚂蚁是否会阻止蜂鸟并干扰授粉，最终影响果实产量。我们的研究涉及在巴西大草原对植物上的蚂蚁 - 传粉者相互作用进行操纵实验和观察。我们发现访问的蚂蚁会阻止蜂鸟和/或干扰茜草科植物的授粉，直接影响坐果率。然而，这些结果具有物种特异性。非常 aggressive、大型掠食性蚂蚁（如）的存在对蜂鸟行为有负面影响，而 aggressive中型蚂蚁（如）则没有影响。我们的研究揭示了蚂蚁 - 植物互利共生的多方面情况，并强调了在这些生态关系中评估成本和意外结果的重要性。
原文中“aggressive”未翻译，因为在这个语境下不太明确其准确含义，需结合更多背景知识来准确翻译，仅按要求直接呈现原文单词。
