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Influence of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens Linnaeus (1758) on the taxonomic and functional diversity of woody plants in Atlantic Forest fragments

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Abstract

There are reports suggesting that leaf-cutting ants can act as a biotic filter, selecting plant traits according to foraging preferences, and consequently affecting the species composition of plant communities. In order to test this hypothesis, we evaluated the relationship between the floristic and functional diversity of woody plants in fragments of Semideciduous Seasonal Atlantic Forest (SAF) with the presence or absence of Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) nests. We expected that, in places where A. sexdens nests is present, 1) floristic diversity is lower and 2) the plant community is dominated by species characterized by greater investment in anti-herbivore defenses and lower nutritional content. For this, we sampled nine SAF fragments in the north of Paraná state, in Brazil. The diversity of woody regenerants (> 1 m in height, < 2 cm diameter) was estimated and 10 functional traits were evaluated: gap dependence, deciduousness, leaf nitrogen and carbon content, leaf C/N ratio, presence of leaf trichomes, leaf thickness, specific leaf area, presence of latex and condensed tannins, for the 28 most abundant woody species. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in floristic diversity between sites with or without A. sexdens, and functional diversity was also similar, reflecting the floristic similarity. We suggest that the herbivory pressure by A. sexdens on the woody regenerants of SAF fragments is not strong enough to cause significant mortality in individual species and, consequently, affect plant diversity and composition. This may in part be related to the fact that most nests of A. sexdens were established in the edges of the fragments and that ants from these nests forage not only in the forest but also in the agricultural matrix where food resources are abundant. We also suggest that longer-term studies are still needed to fully elucidate the effects of A. sexdens on the plant community of Atlantic Forest fragments.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Dr. Marco Nogueira, Dr. Nilton Syogo Arakawa, Ms. Ricardo Luis Nascimento de Matos and Dr. Halley Caixeta de Oliveira who allowed the authors to use their laboratories and helped with foliar chemical analyses. The authors also thank Alba Cavalheiro, Odair do Carmo Pavão and Norival Soares do Cabo for their help in the field and in laboratory activities, and ant taxonomist Jacques Hubert Charles Delabie for identifying ant samples.

Funding

The Long-Term Ecological Research Site Mata Atlântica do Norte do Paraná (PELD-MANP) is supported by CNPq (grants 441540/2016-3 and 441510/2020-5) and Fundação Araucária (41872.434.40722.27092013). CNPq provided research grants for the JMDT (309244/2015-3). CAPES provided PhD scholarship to JMG (“Financial Code 001”) and a Scientific Initiation scholarship to LCDR (88887.505837/2020-00).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biodiversidade E Restauração de Ecossistemas E Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Biológicas, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid—PR 445 Km 380–Campus Universitário, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, 86057-970, Brazil

    Jéssica Magon Garcia, Larissa Cerqueira Dias Rodrigues, Lya Carolina da Silva Mariano Pereira & José Marcelo Domingues Torezan

  2. Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. Pará, Uberlândia, MG, 1720, 38405-302, Brazil

    Heraldo Luís Vasconcelos

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  1. Jéssica Magon Garcia
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  2. Larissa Cerqueira Dias Rodrigues
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  5. José Marcelo Domingues Torezan
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All authors agree to submission of the manuscript. JMG, JMDT and LCDR conceived the research and wrote the text; JMG and LCDR did the field and laboratory work; JMG, LCDR and LCSMP performed statistical analysis; JMG, JMDT, HLV, LCDR and LCSMP edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to José Marcelo Domingues Torezan.

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Garcia, J.M., Cerqueira Dias Rodrigues, L., Pereira, L.C.d.M. et al. Influence of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens Linnaeus (1758) on the taxonomic and functional diversity of woody plants in Atlantic Forest fragments. Plant Ecol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-024-01425-6

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