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The plant has evolved to grow a caudex as the benefits of ants outweighs the costs. [4] Ant defecation is beneficial to the plant as the plant can absorb nutrients from it as well as the gases the ants release. Ants have high diets in animal tissue which is correlated to a faster release of nutrients and they trim encroaching vegetation. [4]
These plants possess structural adaptations in the form of domatia where ants can shelter, and food bodies and extrafloral nectaries that provide ants with food. [1] In exchange for these resources, ants aid the myrmecophyte in pollination, seed dispersal, gathering of essential nutrients, and defense. [ 1 ]
Myrmecochory is exhibited by more than 3,000 plant species worldwide [3] and is present in every major biome on all continents except Antarctica. [4] Seed dispersal by ants is particularly common in the dry heath and sclerophyll woodlands of Australia (1,500 species) and the South African fynbos (1,000 species).
Singapore, a tropical city-state home to more than 40 ant species, has a small but growing community of ant collectors.
Myrmecophytes, or ant plants, live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and/or shelter. Myrmecodia are also classified as epiphytes. The term epiphytic derives from the Greek epi-(meaning 'upon') and phyton (meaning 'plant'). Epiphytic plants are sometimes ...
Finally, current work focusing on ants' role in nutrient supplementation for plants has shown that in many ant-plant relationships, nutrient flow is bidirectional. One study has estimated that while 80% of the carbon in the bodies of Azteca spp. workers is supplied by the host tree ( Cecropia spp.), 90% of the Cecropia tree's nitrogen was ...
Cocktail ants participate in a form of mutualism called myrmecophytism, in which plants provide shelter and secreted food, while the ants provide the plants with protection from predators. Many cocktail ants use plants such as Macaranga as their main source of food. The ants become alarmed when the plant is disturbed.
Myrmecophytism is a mutualistic relationship formed with ant colonies, where the ants protect the tree from herbivory and the trees provide shelter and food for the ants. Along with protection against herbivory, the ants also prevent the Cecropia from encroaching vines and other plants. This may vary between or within species and over ...