TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dejean, A.
AU  - Petitclerc, F.
AU  - Roux, O.
AU  - Orivel, J.
AU  - Leroy, C.
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Does exogenic food benefit both partners in an ant-plant mutualism? the case of Cecropia obtusa and its guest Azteca plant-ants
T2  - C. R. Biol.
JO  - Comptes Rendus Biologies
SP  - 214
EP  - 219
VL  - 335
IS  - 3
KW  - Ant-plant mutualisms
KW  - Azteca
KW  - Cecropia obtusa
KW  - Myrmecotrophy
KW  - Stable isotopes
N2  - In the mutualisms involving the myrmecophyte Cecropia obtusa and Azteca ovaticeps or A. alfari, both predatory, the ants defend their host trees from enemies and provide them with nutrients (myrmecotrophy). A. ovaticeps provisioned with prey and then 15N-enriched food produced more individuals than did control colonies (not artificially provisioned). This was not true for A. alfari colonies, possibly due to differences in the degree of maturity of the colonies for the chosen range of host tree sizes (less than 3 m in height). Myrmecotrophy was demonstrated for both Azteca species as provisioning the ants with 15N-enriched food translated into higher δ 15N values in host plant tissues, indicating that nitrogen passed from the food to the plant. Thus, the predatory activity of their guest ants benefits the Cecropia trees not only because the ants protect them from defoliators since most prey are phytophagous insects but also because the plant absorbs nutrients. © 2012 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
SN  - 16310691 (Issn)
UR  - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84859210824&partnerID=40&md5=a6bf5a8a6c619e719cd71e5a3fe6884c
N1  - Export Date: 15 April 2012; Source: Scopus; Coden: Crboc; doi: 10.1016/j.crvi.2012.01.002; Language of Original Document: English; Correspondence Address: Dejean, A.; CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus Agronomique, 97379 Kourou cedex, France; email: alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr
ID  - Dejean_etal2012
ER  -