An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism

In North American deserts, many species of cactus attract ants to their extrafloral nectaries; the ants actively defend the food source, and hence the plant, against herbivores. In thermally extreme environments, however, networks of positive and negative interactions like these are likely to be sen...

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Autores principales:	Ginny Fitzpatrick, Goggy Davidowitz, Judith L Bronstein
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 2013
Materias:	thermal ecology herbivory ant-plant interaction Narnia temperature Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f44e364a8643473f8fe4efc6367e6f12
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f44e364a8643473f8fe4efc6367e6f122021-12-02T12:25:25ZAn Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism0361-652510.13102/sociobiology.v60i3.252-258https://doaj.org/article/f44e364a8643473f8fe4efc6367e6f122013-11-01T00:00:00Zhttp://periodicos.uefs.br/ojs/index.php/sociobiology/article/view/192https://doaj.org/toc/0361-6525In North American deserts, many species of cactus attract ants to their extrafloral nectaries; the ants actively defend the food source, and hence the plant, against herbivores. In thermally extreme environments, however, networks of positive and negative interactions like these are likely to be sensitive to the thermal limitations of each of the interacting species. We compared the thermal tolerance of a common phytophagous cactus bug, <em>Narnia pallidicornis</em> (Hemiptera: Coreidae), to that of the ants that defend the cactus <em>Ferocactus wislizeni</em> in the Sonoran Desert, USA. We used flow-through respirometry to experimentally determine the thermal limit of the herbivore and compared this to the thermal limits of the ant defenders, determined previously. In the field, we recorded herbivore frequency (proportion of plants with <em>N. pallidicornis</em>) and abundance (the number of <em>N. pallidicornis</em> per plant) in relation to ambient temperature, ant species presence and identity, and fruit production. We show that <em>N. pallidicornis</em> has a higher thermal tolerance than the four most common ant mutualists, and in the laboratory can survive very high temperatures, up to 43°C. Herbivore frequency and abundance in the field were not related to the daily high temperatures observed. Plants that were not defended by ants were occupied by more <em>N. pallidicornis</em>, although they showed no reduction in fruit set. Therefore, herbivory is likely to continue on fishhook barrel cacti even at high temperatures, especially those temperatures beyond the thermal tolerance of the ant defenders. The consequences of increased herbivory, however, remain unclear. Mutualisms are essential for ecosystem functioning; it is important to understand the thermal sensitivity of these interactions, especially in light of expected increases in global temperature regimes.Ginny FitzpatrickGoggy DavidowitzJudith L BronsteinUniversidade Estadual de Feira de Santanaarticlethermal ecologyherbivoryant-plant interactionNarniatemperatureZoologyQL1-991EcologyQH540-549.5Natural history (General)QH1-278.5ENSociobiology, Vol 60, Iss 3, Pp 252-258 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	thermal ecology herbivory ant-plant interaction Narnia temperature Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5
spellingShingle	thermal ecology herbivory ant-plant interaction Narnia temperature Zoology QL1-991 Ecology QH540-549.5 Natural history (General) QH1-278.5 Ginny Fitzpatrick Goggy Davidowitz Judith L Bronstein An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
description	In North American deserts, many species of cactus attract ants to their extrafloral nectaries; the ants actively defend the food source, and hence the plant, against herbivores. In thermally extreme environments, however, networks of positive and negative interactions like these are likely to be sensitive to the thermal limitations of each of the interacting species. We compared the thermal tolerance of a common phytophagous cactus bug, <em>Narnia pallidicornis</em> (Hemiptera: Coreidae), to that of the ants that defend the cactus <em>Ferocactus wislizeni</em> in the Sonoran Desert, USA. We used flow-through respirometry to experimentally determine the thermal limit of the herbivore and compared this to the thermal limits of the ant defenders, determined previously. In the field, we recorded herbivore frequency (proportion of plants with <em>N. pallidicornis</em>) and abundance (the number of <em>N. pallidicornis</em> per plant) in relation to ambient temperature, ant species presence and identity, and fruit production. We show that <em>N. pallidicornis</em> has a higher thermal tolerance than the four most common ant mutualists, and in the laboratory can survive very high temperatures, up to 43°C. Herbivore frequency and abundance in the field were not related to the daily high temperatures observed. Plants that were not defended by ants were occupied by more <em>N. pallidicornis</em>, although they showed no reduction in fruit set. Therefore, herbivory is likely to continue on fishhook barrel cacti even at high temperatures, especially those temperatures beyond the thermal tolerance of the ant defenders. The consequences of increased herbivory, however, remain unclear. Mutualisms are essential for ecosystem functioning; it is important to understand the thermal sensitivity of these interactions, especially in light of expected increases in global temperature regimes.
format	article
author	Ginny Fitzpatrick Goggy Davidowitz Judith L Bronstein
author_facet	Ginny Fitzpatrick Goggy Davidowitz Judith L Bronstein
author_sort	Ginny Fitzpatrick
title	An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
title_short	An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
title_full	An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
title_fullStr	An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
title_full_unstemmed	An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism
title_sort	herbivore’s thermal tolerance is higher than that of the ant defenders in a desert protection mutualism
publisher	Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/f44e364a8643473f8fe4efc6367e6f12
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An Herbivore’s Thermal Tolerance is Higher Than That of the Ant Defenders in a Desert Protection Mutualism

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