Premium
Weaver Ants Increase Premature Loss of Leaves Used for Nest Construction in Rhizophora Trees 1
Author(s) -
Offenberg Joachim,
Nielsen Mogens Gissel,
Macintosh Donald J.,
Aksornkoae Sanit,
Hava Sopon
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00206.x
Subject(s) - nest (protein structural motif) , biology , rhizophora mucronata , mangrove , botany , horticulture , aerial root , ecology , biochemistry
Oecophylla ants utilize living leaves when they construct their nests. We investigated how Oecophylla smaragdina nests in southern Thailand affected leaf performance on the mangrove tree Rhizophora mucronata . Leaves used in nests and neighboring leaves showed a higher rate of premature leaf loss compared to control leaves farther from the nests. However, a tree's total cost due to the higher premature leaf loss was estimated to be approximately between 3‐ and 20‐fold lower than the benefit derived from ant protection, detected in a previous study (Offenberg et al. 2004).