Navegando por Palavras-chave "Mutualismo De Defesa"

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    Aumento de néctar extrafloral induzido por herbivoria não favorece interação com formigas melhores defensoras em Chamaecrista Nictitans (Fabaceae)
    (Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), 2020-03-31) Chinarelli, Henrique Diniz [UNIFESP]; Sousa, Laura Carolina Leal De [UNIFESP]; Universidade Federal de São Paulo
    In mutualisms involving ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs), plants receive more efficient anti-herbivory defense when interacting with more aggressive ants, which also exhibit highly competitive ability. Plants tend to invest more on extrafloral nectar production after herbivory, which could increase the relative value of the plants to the ants, potentially leading to an increased probability of plant attendance by more efficient ant bodyguards. Therefore, I hypothesized that (1) plants invest more on the secretion of extrafloral nectar after herbivory, increasing (2) the relative value of the plants to ant bodyguards and, consequently, (3) the efficiency of the received anti-herbivory defense. I simulated herbivory in Chamaecrista nictitans by: Exogenous application of jasmonic acid and Leaf damage. I also kept plants which did not go through herbivory simulation. I measured nectar volume and sugar concentration and mass. Then, I identified ants with differing aggressiveness that visited the nectaries and measured their efficiency at the removal of herbivore mimics. Herbivory simulation increased, respectively, 153% and 240% the volume and sugar mass, but did not affect nectar sugar concentration or ant visitation nor defense patterns. Thus, increasing plant investment on nectar after herbivory in C. nictitans does not necessarily increase the quality of the received defense. The high frequency of interaction between plants of all treatments and the most aggressive ant defenders indicate that extrafloral nectar value on the study area was naturally high. It reinforces the importance of the environment in which the interactions are embedded in as a mediating factor of the outcome of generalized mutualisms.