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Ants remove virtually all western myall ( Acacia papyrocarpa Benth.) seeds at Middleback, South Australia
Author(s) -
IRELAND C.,
ANDREW M. H.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
australian journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 0307-692X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1995.tb00576.x
Subject(s) - acacia , aril , biology , recalcitrant seed , arid , seed dispersal , botany , horticulture , ecology , germination , biological dispersal , population , demography , sociology
Ants can have a profound effect on the numbers of seeds present in the seed‐bank. We investigated the removal of seeds of an important arid zone tree species, the western myall ( Acacia papyrocarpa Benth.). The species has seed characteristics typical of other Acacia species: a hard seed‐coat and a small, white aril or elaiosome; the latter is reported to be attractive to ants. An experiment was conducted to see how rapidly and completely the seeds would be removed under various caging treatments. Observations were also made to discover the major seed removers and the fate of the seeds. Seed removal was rapid (< 12h) and was almost entirely by ants, and while our observations were not conclusive, we speculate that much of the seed supply is effectively destroyed by seed harvester ants which thus act as true granivores, not seed dispersers. Whether this matters for western myall in the long term is problematic because the species is so long‐lived; rare but successful recruitment events may well be sufficient for its long‐term survival.