Novais Samuel, Matías-Ferrer Noemí, Ruíz-Guerra Betsabé, Pereira Cássio Cardoso, Negreiros Daniel, Aguirre-Jaimes Armando
Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología A. C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Ecology. 2025 Sep;106(9):e70186. doi: 10.1002/ecy.70186.
Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are specialized plant glands that secrete nectar but are not related to pollination. Several ants feed on EFNs and, in exchange, they often attack herbivores, reducing the consumption of leaf tissue and floral parts, and enhancing plant performance. Although most empirical studies and reviews have demonstrated that ant visitation benefits EFN-bearing plants, many others have failed to show ants as protective partners. Despite the increasing number of papers dealing with plant defense mediated by EFNs in the last 30 years, there has been no comprehensive effort to synthesize knowledge on this topic. In fact, due to strict inclusion criteria, recent meta-analyses have considered only a small fraction of the published studies on ant-EFN-bearing plant interactions. Therefore, we set out to compile the available published information about ants feeding on EFNs, ranging from descriptive to experimental studies. This dataset includes 342 studies and 4766 records of ants feeding directly on EFNs. When available, we also extracted the outcomes of the interactions from each study. In addition, the effects of ants on herbivory, herbivore abundance, fruit set, and seed set (the response variables with most data) were summarized. The data were gathered from studies published between 1941 and February 2024, across 40 countries and several ecosystems in temperate and tropical zones. Brazil and Mexico were by far the countries with the most records. Ants visiting EFNs were recorded on plants from 30 orders, 65 families, 246 genera, and 441 species. Fabaceae was the family with the greatest number of records (n = 1208, 25.3%), followed by Passifloraceae (n = 430, 9%) and Bignoniaceae (n = 269, 5.6%). Passiflora was the genus with the greatest number of records (n = 254, 5.3%), followed by Chamaecrista (n = 241, 5.1%) and Turnera (n = 176, 3.4%). A total of 7 subfamilies, 82 genera, and 519 ant species were found associated with EFNs. Formicinae was the subfamily with the greatest number of records (n = 1771, 37.2%), followed by Myrmicinae (n = 1609, 33.8%). Camponotus was the genus with the greatest number of records (1173, 24.6%), followed by Crematogaster (n = 518, 10.9%) and Pseudomyrmex (n = 437, 9.2%). The effects of ants on herbivory, herbivore abundance, fruit set, and seed set were explored separately for community- and species-level studies. Ants led to a decrease in herbivory in 67.4% (n = 58) of the community-level studies and in 54.2% (n = 26) of the species-level studies. Similarly, 75.9% (n = 44) and 72.4% (n = 21) of the studies showed a decrease in herbivore abundance caused by ants in community- and species-level studies, respectively. Regarding plant fitness, ants led to an increase in fruit set in 42.9% (n = 21) of the community-level studies and in 52% (n = 13) of the species-level studies. Finally, 47.2% (n = 17) and 42.9% (n = 9) of the studies showed an increase in seed set caused by ants in community- and species-level studies, respectively. There are no copyright restrictions on the data; please cite this paper when using the data in publications. Additionally, the authors request to be informed of how these data are used in publications.
花外蜜腺（EFNs）是专门的植物腺体，能分泌花蜜但与授粉无关。几种蚂蚁以花外蜜腺为食，作为交换，它们常常攻击食草动物，减少叶片组织和花部的消耗，从而提高植物的生长表现。尽管大多数实证研究和综述都表明蚂蚁的到访对带有花外蜜腺的植物有益，但也有许多其他研究未能证明蚂蚁是具有保护作用的伙伴。尽管在过去30年里，涉及花外蜜腺介导的植物防御的论文数量不断增加，但尚未有全面的努力来综合关于这一主题的知识。事实上，由于严格的纳入标准，最近的荟萃分析仅考虑了已发表的关于蚂蚁与带有花外蜜腺植物相互作用研究的一小部分。因此，我们着手汇编有关蚂蚁取食花外蜜腺的已发表信息，范围从描述性研究到实验性研究。该数据集包括342项研究以及4766条蚂蚁直接取食花外蜜腺的记录。如有可能，我们还从每项研究中提取了相互作用的结果。此外，总结了蚂蚁对食草动物取食、食草动物数量、坐果率和结实率（数据最多的响应变量）的影响。这些数据收集自1941年至2024年2月期间在40个国家以及温带和热带地区的多个生态系统中发表的研究。巴西和墨西哥是记录最多的国家。在30个目、65个科、246个属和441个物种的植物上记录到蚂蚁到访花外蜜腺。豆科的记录数量最多（n = 1208，占25.3%），其次是西番莲科（n = 430，占9%）和紫葳科（n = 269，占5.6%）。西番莲属的记录数量最多（n = 254，占5.3%），其次是决明属（n = 241，占5.1%）和时钟花属（n = 176，占3.4%）。共发现7个亚科、82个属和519种蚂蚁与花外蜜腺有关。蚁亚科的记录数量最多（n = 1771，占37.2%），其次是切叶蚁亚科（n = 1609，占33.8%）。弓背蚁属的记录数量最多（1173，占24.6%），其次是 Crematogaster属（n = 518，占10.9%）和伪切叶蚁属（n = 437，占9.2%）。分别针对群落水平和物种水平的研究，探讨了蚂蚁对食草动物取食、食草动物数量、坐果率和结实率的影响。在群落水平的研究中，67.4%（n = 58）的研究表明蚂蚁导致食草动物取食减少；在物种水平的研究中，54.2%（n = 26）的研究表明蚂蚁导致食草动物取食减少。同样，在群落水平和物种水平的研究中，分别有75.9%（n = 44）和72.4%（n = 21）的研究表明蚂蚁导致食草动物数量减少。关于植物适合度，在群落水平的研究中，42.9%（n = 21）的研究表明蚂蚁导致坐果率增加；在物种水平的研究中，52%（n = 13）的研究表明蚂蚁导致坐果率增加。最后，在群落水平和物种水平的研究中，分别有47.2%（n = 17）和42.9%（n = 9）的研究表明蚂蚁导致结实率增加。这些数据没有版权限制；在出版物中使用这些数据时请引用本文。此外，作者请求告知这些数据在出版物中的使用方式。
