TY  - JOUR
AU  - Orivel, J.
AU  - Leroy, C.
PY  - 2011//
TI  - The diversity and ecology of ant gardens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Spermatophyta: Angiospermae)
T2  - Myrmecol. News
JO  - Myrmecological News
SP  - 73
EP  - 85
VL  - 14
PB  - OESTERREICHISCHE GESELL ENTOMOFAUNISTIK, C/O NATURHISTOR MUSEUM WIEN
KW  - Ant-plant interactions
KW  - epiphytes
KW  - mutualisms
KW  - Neotropics
KW  - Paleotropics
KW  - phytotelm
KW  - parabiosis
KW  - seed dispersal
KW  - review
N2  - Mutualistic interactions between ants and plants are important features of many ecosystems, and they can be divided into three main categories: dispersal and protective mutualisms and myrmecotrophy. In both the Neotropics and the Southeastern Asian Paleotropics, ant gardens (AGs), a particular type of ant-plant interaction, are frequent. To initiate AGs, ants integrate the seeds of certain epiphyte species into the carton of their nest. The development of the plants leads to the formation of a cluster of epiphytes rooted in the carton. They have been defined as one of the most complex associations between ants and plants known because of the plurispecific, but also specialized nature of the association involving several phylogenetically-distant ant and plant species. The aim of this review is to provide a synthesis of the diversity and ecology of AGs, including the outcomes experienced by the partners in the interaction and the direct and indirect impacts ant-garden ants have on the plant and arthropod communities.
SN  - 1994-4136
N1  - ISI:000286844100009
ID  - Orivel+Leroy2011
ER  -