Premium
DISPERSAL ECOLOGY OF CAREX PEDUNCULATA (CYPERACEAE), A NEW NORTH AMERICAN MYRMECOCHORE
Author(s) -
Handel Steven N.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1976.tb13191.x
Subject(s) - biology , banksia , diaspore (botany) , carex , achene , biological dispersal , nest (protein structural motif) , seed dispersal , ecology , germination , botany , cyperaceae , burrow , population , poaceae , biochemistry , demography , sociology , woodland
Carex pedunculata is the first North American species of the Cyperaceae that is identified as a myrmecochore. Many morphological and phenological features of this species and its breeding system are interpreted as adaptive for seed dispersal by ants. In laboratory tests, workers of the ant species Aphaenogaster rudis carry the diaspores to the nest, eat the elaiosomes, carry larvae to the elaiosomes to feed, and deposit diaspores whose elaiosomes have been eaten with other nest debris. The achenes then germinate. Achenes will also germinate without any handling by ants. Workers will also transport diaspores with uneaten elaiosomes when the nest is disturbed. Greenhouse tests show that seedling growth is greatly inhibited if a diaspore remains near the parent plant and cohort seedlings. Field studies of natural populations identify rotting logs (the location of ant nests) as forest floor microsites for colonization of C. pedunculata and other myrmecochores. Ant nesting behavior may pattern much of the herb stratum. This species is self‐compatible, and single seeds may start successful new populations. Three processes contribute to population growth: vegetative growth, germination of untransported diaspores, and germination of ant‐transported diaspores.