Leaf-cutting ants and early forest regeneration in central Amazonia: Effects of herbivory on tree seedling establishment

Journal of Tropical Ecology

Volumn 13, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 357-370

  Vasconcelos, Heraldo L ^a   Cherrett, J Malcolm ^b  

^a INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE PESQUISAS DA AMAZÔNIA   (Brazil)

^b BANGOR UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Amazonia; Ants; Atta laevigata; Herbivory; Secondary succession

Indexed keywords

FOREST REGENERATION; HERBIVORY; LEAF-CUTTING ANT; SECONDARY SUCCESSION; SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT; TREE;

BRAZIL, AMAZONIA;

ATTA LAEVIGATA; FORMICIDAE; HYMENOPTERA;

EID: 0030619997     PISSN: 02664674     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0266467400010567     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. ALVAREZ-BUYLLA, E. R. & MARTINEZ-RAMOS, M. 1990. Seed bank versus seed rain in the regeneration of a tropical pioneer tree. Oecologia 84:314-325.
2. BLANTON, C. M. & EWEL, J. J. 1985. Leaf-cutting ant herbivory in successional and agricultural tropical ecosystems. Ecology 66:861-869.
3. BROWN, B. J. & EWEL, J. J. 1988. Responses to defoliation of species-rich and monospecific tropical plant communities. Oecologia 75:12-19.
4. BROWN, V. K. & GANGE, A. C. 1989. Herbivory by soil-dwelling insects depresses plant species richness. Functional Ecology 3:667-671.
5. CHERRETT, J. M. 1968. The foraging behavior of Atta cephalotes L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 1. Foraging pattern and plant species attacked in tropical rain forest. Journal of Animal Ecology 37:387-403.
6. CHERRETT, J. M. & SIMMS, B. G. 1968. Some costings for leaf-cutting ant damage in Trinidad. Journal of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago 68:313-322.
7. CHERRETT, J. M. & JUTSUM, A.R. 1983. The effects of some ant species, especially Atta cephalotes L., Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) and Azteca sp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on citrus growing in Trinidad. Pp. 155-163 in P. Jaison (ed.). Social insects in the tropics. University of Paris, Paris.
8. DELABIE, J. C. 1990. The ant problems of cocoa farms in Brazil. Pp. 555-569 in Vander Meer, R. K. Jaffe, K. & Cedeno, A. (eds). Applied myrmecology: a world perspective. Westview Press, Boulder.
9. EDWARDS, P. J. & GILLMAN, M. P. 1987. Herbivores and plant succession. Pp. 295-314 in Gray, A. J., Crawley, M. J. & Edwards, P. J. (eds). Colonization, succession and stability. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
10. GANGE, A. C., BROWN, V. K., EVANS, I. M. & STORR, A. L. 1989. Variation in the impact of insect herbivory on Trifolium pratense through early plant succession. Journal of Ecology 77:537-551.
11. GIBSON, C. W., BROWN, V. K. & JEPSEN, M. 1987. Relationships between the effects of insect herbivory and sheep grazing on seasonal changes in an early successional plant community. Oecologia 71:245-253.
12. HOWARD, J. J. 1987. Leaf-cutting ant diet selection: the role ol nutrients, water and secondary chemistry. Ecology 68:503-515.
13. JONKMAN, J. C. M. 1979. Distribution and densities of the leaf-cutting ant Atta vollenweideri Forel, 1893 in Paraguay. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Entomologie 88:27-43.
14. KARIN, G. 1993. Tree seedling development in tropical dry abandoned pasture and secondary lorest in Costa Rica. Journal of Vegetation Science 4:95-102.
15. MILLS, J. N. 1986. Herbivores and early postfire succession in southern California chaparral. Ecology 67:1637-1649.
16. MOSER, J. C. 1986. Estimating timber losses from a town ant colony with aerial photographs. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 10:45-47.
17. MOUTINHO, P. R. S., NEPSTAD, D. C., ARAUJO, K. & UHL, C. 1993. Formigas e floresta. Ciência Hoje 88:59-60.
18. NEPSTAD, D., UHL, C. & SERRÃO, E. 1990. Surmounting barriers to forest regeneration in abandoned, highly degraded pastures: A case study from Paragominas, Para, Brazil. Pp. 215-229 in Anderson, A. (ed.). Alternatives to deforestation, steps toward sustainable use of the Amazon rain forest. Columbia University Press, New York.
19. PARKER, M. A. & ROOT, R. B. 1981. Insect herbivores limit habitat distribution of a native composite, Machaeranthera canescens. Ecology 62:1390-1392.
20. REED, J. & CHERRETT, J. M. 1990. Foraging strategies and vegetation exploitation in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes (L.) - a preliminary simulation model. Pp. 355-366 in Vander Meer, R. K., Jaffe, K. & Cedeno, A., (eds). Applied myrmecology: a world perspective. Westview Press, Boulder.
21. RIBEIRO, G. T. & WOESSNER, R. A. 1980. Efeito de diferentes níveis de desfolha artificial para avaliação de danos causados por saúvas (Atta spp.) em árvores de Gmelina arborea L. e de Pinus caribaea var. Hondurensis Bar. & Golf. Anais da Sociedade Entomológica do Brasil 9:261-272.
22. RIBEIRO, M. N. G. & ADIS, J. 1984. Local rainfall variability: a potential bias for bioecological studies in central Amazon. Acta Amazonica 14:159-174.
23. ROBERTS, J. T. & HEITHAUS, E. R. 1986. Ants rearrange the vertebrate-generated seed shadow of a neotropical fig tree. Ecology 67:1046-1051.
24. ROCKWOOD, L. L. 1973. The effect of defoliation on seed production of six Costa Rican tree species. Ecology 54:1363-1369.
25. ROCKWOOD, L. L. 1976. Plant selection and foraging patterns in two species of leaf-cutting ants (Atta). Ecology 57:48-61.
26. UHL, C., BUSCHBACHER, R. & SERRÃO, E. A. S. 1988. Abandoned pastures in eastern Amazonia. I. Patterns of plant succession. Journal of Ecology 76:663-681.
27. UHL, C., NEPSTAD, D., BUSCHBACHER, R., CLARK, K., KAUFFMAN, B. & SUBLER, S. 1990. Studies of ecosystem response to natural and anthropogenic disturbances provide guidelines for designing sustainable land-use systems in Amazonia. Pp. 24-42 in Anderson, A. (ed.). Alternatives to deforestation, steps toward sustainable use of the Amazon rain forest. Columbia University Press, New York.
28. VASCONCELOS, H. L. 1988. Distribution of Atta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in 'terra-firme' rain forest of central Amazonia: density, species composition and preliminary results on effects of forest fragmentation. Acta Amazonica 18:309-315.
29. VASCONCELOS, H. L. 1990. Foraging activity of two species of leaf-cutting ants (Atta) in a primary forest of the central Amazon. Insectes Sociaux 37:131-145.
30. VASCONCELOS, H. L. & CHERRETT, J. M. 1995. Changes in leaf-cutting ant populations (Formicidae: Attini) after the clearing of mature forest in Brazilian Amazonia. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 30:107-113.
31. WETTERER, J. K. 1994. Ontogenic changes in forager polymorphism and foraging ecology in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes. Oecologia 98:235-238.
32. ZAR, J. H. 1984. Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.