Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T19:36:02.916Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

18 - Leaf-Cutting Ants in Patagonia: How Human Disturbances Affect Their Role as Ecosystem Engineers on Soil Fertility, Plant Fitness, and Trophic Cascades

from Part V - Applied Ant Ecology: Agroecosystems, Ecosystem Engineering, and Restoration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2017

Paulo S. Oliveira
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Suzanne Koptur
Affiliation:
Florida International University
Get access
Type
Chapter
Information
Ant-Plant Interactions
Impacts of Humans on Terrestrial Ecosystems
, pp. 377 - 390
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abril, A., & Bucher, E. H. (2001). Overgrazing and soil carbon dynamics in the western Chaco of Argentina. Applied Soil Ecology, 16, 243249.Google Scholar
Ares, J., Beeskow, A., Bertiller, M., Rostagno, C., Irisarri, M., Anchorena, J., Defossé, G., & Meroni, C. (1990). Structural and dynamics characteristics of overgrazed lands of Northern Patagonia, Argentina. In Bremeyer, A. (ed.). Managed grasslands: regional studies. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, pp. 149175.Google Scholar
Bennett, A. F. (1991). Roads, roadsides and wildlife conservation: a review. In Saunders, D. A. & Hobbs, R. J. (eds.). Nature conservation 2: the role of corridors. Chipping Norton, Australia: Surrey Beatty, pp. 99117.Google Scholar
Bertiller, M. B., & Ares, J. O. (2011). Does sheep selectivity along grazing paths negatively affect biological crusts and soil seed banks in arid shrublands? A case study in the Patagonian Monte, Argentina. Journal of Environmental Management, 92, 20912096.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bertiller, M. B., & Bisigato, A. (1998). Vegetation dynamics under grazing disturbance. The state-and-transition model for the Patagonian steppes. Ecología Austral, 8, 191199.Google Scholar
Bestelmeyer, B., & Wiens, J. (2001) Ant biodiversity in semiarid landscape mosaics: the consequence of grazing vs. natural heterogeneity. Ecological Applications, 11, 11231140.Google Scholar
Bieber, A. G., Silva, P. S. D., Sendoya, S. F., & Oliveira, P. S. (2014). Assessing the impact of deforestation of the Atlantic Rainforest on ant-fruit interactions: a field experiment using synthetic fruits. PlosOne, 9, e90369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bisigato, A., & Bertiller, M. (1997). Grazing effects on patchy dryland vegetation in northern Patagonia. Journal of Arid Environments., 36, 639653.Google Scholar
Bucher, E. H., Marchesini, V., & Abril, A. (2004). Herbivory by leaf-cutting ants: nutrient balance between harvested and refuse material. Biotropica, 36, 327332.Google Scholar
Cerdá, N., Tadey, M., Farji-Brener, A. G., & Navarro, M. (2012). Effects of leaf-cutting ant refuse on native plant performance under two levels of grazing intensity in the Monte Desert of Argentina. Applied Vegetation Science, 15, 479487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Correa, M. N. (1969). Flora patagónica. Buenos Aires, Argentina: INTA-Buenos Aires.Google Scholar
Corrêa, M. M., Silva, P. S. D., Wirth, R., Tabarelli, M., & Leal, I. R. (2010). How leaf-cutting ants impact forests: drastic nest effects on light environment and plant assemblages. Oecologia, 162, 103115.Google Scholar
Del Toro, I., Ribbons, R. R., & Pelini, S. L. (2012). The little things that run the world revisited: a review of ant-mediated ecosystem services and disservices (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News, 17, 133146.Google Scholar
Fahrig, L., & Rytwinski, T. (2009). Effects of roads on animal abundance: an empirical review and synthesis. Ecology and Society, 14, 21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G. (1996). Posibles vías de expansión de la hormiga cortadora de hojas Acromyrmex lobicornis hacia la Patagonia. Ecología Austral, 6, 144150.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G. (2000). Leaf-cutting ant nests in temperate environments: mounds, mound damages and mortality rates in Acromyrmex lobicornis. Studies of Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 35, 131138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G. (2001). Why are leaf-cutting ants more common in early secondary forests than in old-growth tropical forests? An evaluation of the palatable forage hypothesis. Oikos, 92, 169177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G. (2010). Leaf-cutting ant nests and soil biota abundance in a semi-arid steppe of northwestern Patagonia. Sociobiology, 56, 549557.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Ghermandi, L. (2000). The influence of nests of leaf-cutting ants on plant species diversity in road verges of northern Patagonia. Journal of Vegetation Science, 11, 453460.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Ghermandi, L. (2004). Seedling recruitment in the semi-arid Patagonian steppe: facilitative effects of refuse dumps of leaf-cutting ants. Journal of Vegetation Science, 15, 823830.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Ghermandi, L. (2008). Leaf-cutting ant nests near roads increase fitness of exotic plant species in natural protected areas. Proceedings of the Royal Society – Series B, 275, 14311440.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., Gianoli, E., & Molina-Montenegro, M. (2009). Small-scale disturbances spread along trophic chains: leaf-cutting ant nests, plants, aphids and tending ants. Ecological Research, 24, 139145.Google Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Illes, A. E. (2000) Do leaf-cutting ant nests make “bottom-up” gaps in neotropical rain forests?: a critical review of the evidence. Ecology Letters, 3, 219227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., Lescano, N., & Ghermandi, L. (2010). Ecological engineering by a native leaf-cutting ant increases the performance of exotic plant species. Oecologia, 163, 163169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Ruggiero, A. (1994). Leaf-cutting ants (Atta and Acromyrmex) inhabiting Argentina: patterns in species richness and geographical range sizes. Journal of Biogeography, 21, 391399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farji-Brener, A. G., & Werenkraut, V. (2015). A meta-analysis of leaf-cutting ant nest effects on soil fertility and plant performance. Ecological Entomology, 40, 150158.Google Scholar
Fernández, A., Farji-Brener, A. G., & Satti, P. (2014a). Factores que influyen sobre la actividad microbiana en basureros de hormigas cortadoras de hojas. Ecología Austral, 24,103110.Google Scholar
Fernández, A., Farji-Brener, A. G., & Satti, P. (2014b). Moisture enhances the positive effect of leaf-cutting ant refuse dumps on soil biota activity. Austral Ecology, 39, 198203.Google Scholar
Fournier, V., Rosenheim, J., Laney, L., & Johnson, M. (2003). Herbivorous mites as ecological engineers: indirect effects on arthropods inhabiting papaya foliage. Oecologia, 135, 442450.Google Scholar
Gelbard, J., & Harrison, S. (2005). Invasibility of roadless grasslands: an experimental study of yellow starthistle. Ecological Applications, 15, 15701580.Google Scholar
Golluscio, R. A., Deregibus, V. A., & Paruelo, J. M. (1998). Sustainability and range management in the Patagonian steppes. Ecología Austral, 8, 265284.Google Scholar
Guevara, J. C., Stasi, C. R., & Estevez, O. R. (1996). Seasonal specific selectivity by cattle on rangeland in the Monte desert of Mendoza, Argentina. Journal of Arid Environments, 34, 125132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guillade, A. C., & Folgarait, P. J. (2014). Competition between grass-cutting Atta vollenweideri ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and domestic cattle (Artiodactyla: Bovidae) in Argentine rangelands. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 17, 113119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hölldobler, B., & Wilson, E. O. (2011). The leafcutter ants: civilization by instinct. London: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.Google Scholar
Jaffe, K., & Vilela, E. (1989). On nest densities of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes in tropical primary forest. Biotropica, 48, 234236.Google Scholar
Jones, C., Lawton, J., & Shachar, M. (1994) Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos, 69, 373386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, C., Lawton, J., & Shachar, M. (1997). Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers. Ecology, 78, 839841.Google Scholar
Laurance, W. F., Sayer, J., & Cassman, K. G. (2014). Agricultural expansion and its impacts on tropical nature. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 29, 107116.Google Scholar
Leal, I. R., Wirth, R., & Tabarelli, M. (2014). The multiple impacts of leaf-cutting ants and their novel ecological role in human-modified neotropical forests. Biotropica, 46, 516528.Google Scholar
Leishman, M. R., & Thomson, V. P. (2005). Experimental evidence for the effects of additional water, nutrients and physical disturbance on invasive plants in low fertility Hawkesbury Sandstone soils, Sydney, Australia. Journal of Ecology, 93, 3849.Google Scholar
Lescano, M. N., & Farji-Brener, A. G. (2011). Exotic thistles increase native ant abundance through the maintenance of enhanced aphid populations. Ecological Research, 26, 827834.Google Scholar
Lescano, M. N., Farji-Brener, A. G., & Gianoli, E. (2015). Outcomes of competitive interactions after a natural increment of resources: the assemblage of aphid-tending ants in northern Patagonia. Insect Sociaux, 62, 199205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lescano, M. N., Farji-Brener, A. G., Gianoli, E., & Carlo, T. (2012). Bottom-up effects may not reach the top: the influence of ant-aphid interactions on the spread of soil disturbances through trophic chains. Proceedings of the Royal Society – Series B, 279, 37793787.Google Scholar
Markl, U., Schleuning, M., Forget, P., Jordano, P., Lambert, J., Traveset, A., Wight, J., & Bohning-Gaese, K. (2012). Meta-analysis of the effects of human disturbance on seed dispersal by animals. Conservation Biology, 26, 10721081.Google Scholar
Meyer, S. T., Leal, I. R., & Wirth, R. (2009). Persisting hyper-abundance of keystone herbivores (Atta spp.) at the edge of an old Brazilian Atlantic Forest fragment. Biotropica, 41, 711716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montoya-Lerma, J., Giraldo-Echeverri, C., Armbrecht, I., Farji-Brener, A. G., & Calle, Z. (2012). Leaf-cutting ants revisited: towards rational management and control. International Journal of Pest Management, 58, 225247.Google Scholar
Raymond, A., Moranz, R. A., Debinski, D. M., Winkler, L., Trager, J., Mc Granahan, D., Engle, D., & Miller, J. (2013). Effects of grassland management practices on ant functional groups in central North America. Journal of Insect Conservation, 17, 699713.Google Scholar
Rickey, M. A., & Anderson, R. C. (2004). Effects of nitrogen addition on the invasive grass Phragmites australis and a native competitor Spartina pectinata. Journal of Applied Ecology, 41, 888896.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W., & Fowler, H. G. (1982). Foraging and pest potential of Paraguayan grass-cutting ants (Atta and Acromyrmex) to the cattle industry. Zeitschrift fuer angewandte Entomologie, 93, 4254.Google Scholar
Sallanbanks, R., Arnett, E. B., & Marzluff, J. M. (2000). An evaluation of research on the effects of timber harvest on bird populations. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 28, 11441155.Google Scholar
Satti, P., Mazzarino, M. J., Gobbi, M., Funes, F., Roselli, L., & Fernandez, H. (2003). Soil N dynamics in relation to leaf litter quality and soil fertility in north-western Patagonian forests. Journal of Ecology, 91, 173181.Google Scholar
Spellerberg, I. F. (1998). Ecological effects of roads and traffic: a literature review. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 7, 317333.Google Scholar
Tabarelli, M., Silva, J. & Gascon, C. (2004). Forest fragmentation, synergisms and the impoverishment of neotropical forests. Biodiversity and Conservation., 13, 14191425.Google Scholar
Tadey, M. (2006). Grazing without grasses: effects of introduced livestock on plant community of an arid ecosystem in northern Patagonia. Applied Vegetation Science, 9, 109116.Google Scholar
Tadey, M., & Farji-Brener, A. G. (2007). Indirect effects of exotic grazers: livestock decreases the nutrient content of refuse dumps of leaf-cutting ants through vegetation impoverishment. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 12091218.Google Scholar
Thompson, I. A., Baker, J. A., & Ter-Mikaelian, M. (2003). A review of the long-term effects of post-harvest silviculture on vertebrate wildlife, and predictive models, with an emphasis on boreal forest in Ontario, Canada. Forest Ecology and Management, 177, 441469.Google Scholar
Trombulak, S. C., & Frissell, C. A. (2002). Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conservation Biology, 14, 1830.Google Scholar
Vasconcelos, H. L. (1990). Habitat selection by the queens of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens L. in Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 6, 249252.Google Scholar
Vieira-Neto, E. H. M., & Vasconcelos, H. L. (2010). Developmental changes in factors limiting colony survival and growth of the leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata. Ecography, 33, 538544.Google Scholar
Way, M. J. (1963). Mutualism between ants and honeydew producing Homoptera. Annual Review of Entomology, 8, 307344.Google Scholar
Wirth, R., Herz, H., Rye, I., Beyschlag, W., & Hölldobler, B. (2003). Herbivory of leaf-cutting ants. Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Wirth, R., Meyer, S. T., Almeida, W. R., Araújo, M. V., Jr., Barbosa, V. S., & Leal, I. R. (2007). Increasing densities of leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) with proximity to the edge in a Brazilian Atlantic forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 23, 501505.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×