Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants
The harvester ant Messor barbarus can be responsible for high weed seed losses in dry land cereals in Spain. Because weeds occur in patches, harvester ants have to be able to find and exploit patches. However, seed patches can differ in size and may, therefore, differ in the probability of being dis...
| Autores: | ; ; ; ; |
|---|---|
| Tipo de documento: | Artículo |
| Estado: | Accepted version |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2016 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| Repositorio: | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:recercat.cat:2445/128549 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/128549 |
| Nivel de acceso: | Acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Formigues Collites Ants Harvesting |
| _version_ | 1878736363747016704 |
|---|---|
| author | Torra, Joel |
| author2 | Atanackovic, V. Blanco Moreno, José Manuel Royo-Esnal, A. Westerman, P. |
| author2_role | author author author author |
| author_browse | Atanackovic, V. Blanco Moreno, José Manuel Royo-Esnal, A. Torra, Joel Westerman, P. |
| author_facet | Torra, Joel Atanackovic, V. Blanco Moreno, José Manuel Royo-Esnal, A. Westerman, P. |
| author_role | author |
| collection | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| description | The harvester ant Messor barbarus can be responsible for high weed seed losses in dry land cereals in Spain. Because weeds occur in patches, harvester ants have to be able to find and exploit patches. However, seed patches can differ in size and may, therefore, differ in the probability of being discovered and exploited. Here, 90 patches varying in size from 0.25 to 9 m2 were created in three 50 × 50 m subareas in a cereal field. Oat seeds were sown as weed seed surrogates in the patches at 2000 seeds m−2. After 24 h, those remaining were collected and the exploitation rate (the percentage of seeds removed per patch discovered by ants) was estimated. Harvester ant nests and the location of the seed patches were georeferenced and used to estimate distances between them. The patch encounter rate (the proportion of patches discovered by the ants) decreased slightly, but significantly, with decreasing patch size, though not the exploitation rate, which was lowest in the smallest patches (78-94%) and highest in the largest (99-100%). Seed patches that were not found or partially exploited were mostly located in subareas with a lower ant nest density or a longer distance away from the nearest nest than seed patches that were fully exploited. The results of this study indicate that the interaction between the spatial distribution of ant nests and the patchy distribution of seeds can create opportunities for seeds to be subjected to lower levels of predation. |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| format | article |
| id | ES_8daf01aa14eba5742e5d3b4df9ffcd8e |
| institution | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| instname_str | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| network_acronym_str | ES |
| network_name_str | España |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:recercat.cat:2445/128549 |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| publisherStr | Wiley |
| reponame_str | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| spelling | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants Torra, Joel Atanackovic, V. Blanco Moreno, José Manuel Royo-Esnal, A. Westerman, P. Formigues Collites Ants Harvesting The harvester ant Messor barbarus can be responsible for high weed seed losses in dry land cereals in Spain. Because weeds occur in patches, harvester ants have to be able to find and exploit patches. However, seed patches can differ in size and may, therefore, differ in the probability of being discovered and exploited. Here, 90 patches varying in size from 0.25 to 9 m2 were created in three 50 × 50 m subareas in a cereal field. Oat seeds were sown as weed seed surrogates in the patches at 2000 seeds m−2. After 24 h, those remaining were collected and the exploitation rate (the percentage of seeds removed per patch discovered by ants) was estimated. Harvester ant nests and the location of the seed patches were georeferenced and used to estimate distances between them. The patch encounter rate (the proportion of patches discovered by the ants) decreased slightly, but significantly, with decreasing patch size, though not the exploitation rate, which was lowest in the smallest patches (78-94%) and highest in the largest (99-100%). Seed patches that were not found or partially exploited were mostly located in subareas with a lower ant nest density or a longer distance away from the nearest nest than seed patches that were fully exploited. The results of this study indicate that the interaction between the spatial distribution of ant nests and the patchy distribution of seeds can create opportunities for seeds to be subjected to lower levels of predation. Wiley https://hdl.handle.net/2445/128549 |
| spellingShingle | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants Torra, Joel Formigues Collites Ants Harvesting |
| status_str | acceptedVersion |
| title | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| title_full | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| title_fullStr | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| title_short | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| title_sort | Effect of patch size on seed removal by harvester ants |
| topic | Formigues Collites Ants Harvesting |
| topic_facet | Formigues Collites Ants Harvesting |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/128549 |