Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is one of the dominant plants of the Fennoscandian boreal coniferous forest and constitutes a major food source for many insect herbivores. A common ant species in these forests is the wood ant Formica (Formica) aquilonia Yarrow, which preys heavily on other inverte...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 |
id |
ftczechacademysc:oai:kramerius.lib.cas.cz:uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftczechacademysc:oai:kramerius.lib.cas.cz:uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 2024-03-17T08:57:50+00:00 Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus Atlegrim, Ola https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 unknown https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 policy:public Top-down indirect effects Formicidae Formica aquilonia ants bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus insect larvae herbivory predation effect article model:article ftczechacademysc 2024-02-19T23:04:44Z Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is one of the dominant plants of the Fennoscandian boreal coniferous forest and constitutes a major food source for many insect herbivores. A common ant species in these forests is the wood ant Formica (Formica) aquilonia Yarrow, which preys heavily on other invertebrates within its territories. The aim of this study was to investigate whether aquilonia's predation on the insect herbivores may have indirect positive or negative effects on bilberry. Damage to the bilberry, its vegetative growth and reproduction were quantified in order to contrast localities close to (2 m) and far away from (50 m) ant nests. Close to ant nests, herbivore damage to the bilberry was significantly lower and reproductive success, i.e. proportion of flowers succeeding to berries, significantly higher. The results of this study therefore suggest that distance to aquilonia nests, and thus predation from ants, can significantly affect herbivore damage to the bilberry and its reproductive success (supporting the hypothesis of a top down effect in this three-trophic-level system). Vegetative growth, i.e., density and biomass of current year shoots, and reproductive investment, i.e., proportion of current year shoots with flower, of the bilberry was, however, not affected by distance to ant nests, indicating that the bilberry can also compensate for losses due to herbivory. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandian Czech Academy of Sciences: dKNAV |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Czech Academy of Sciences: dKNAV |
op_collection_id |
ftczechacademysc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Top-down indirect effects Formicidae Formica aquilonia ants bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus insect larvae herbivory predation effect |
spellingShingle |
Top-down indirect effects Formicidae Formica aquilonia ants bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus insect larvae herbivory predation effect Atlegrim, Ola Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
topic_facet |
Top-down indirect effects Formicidae Formica aquilonia ants bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus insect larvae herbivory predation effect |
description |
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) is one of the dominant plants of the Fennoscandian boreal coniferous forest and constitutes a major food source for many insect herbivores. A common ant species in these forests is the wood ant Formica (Formica) aquilonia Yarrow, which preys heavily on other invertebrates within its territories. The aim of this study was to investigate whether aquilonia's predation on the insect herbivores may have indirect positive or negative effects on bilberry. Damage to the bilberry, its vegetative growth and reproduction were quantified in order to contrast localities close to (2 m) and far away from (50 m) ant nests. Close to ant nests, herbivore damage to the bilberry was significantly lower and reproductive success, i.e. proportion of flowers succeeding to berries, significantly higher. The results of this study therefore suggest that distance to aquilonia nests, and thus predation from ants, can significantly affect herbivore damage to the bilberry and its reproductive success (supporting the hypothesis of a top down effect in this three-trophic-level system). Vegetative growth, i.e., density and biomass of current year shoots, and reproductive investment, i.e., proportion of current year shoots with flower, of the bilberry was, however, not affected by distance to ant nests, indicating that the bilberry can also compensate for losses due to herbivory. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Atlegrim, Ola |
author_facet |
Atlegrim, Ola |
author_sort |
Atlegrim, Ola |
title |
Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_short |
Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_full |
Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_fullStr |
Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_full_unstemmed |
Indirect effects of ant predation (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus |
title_sort |
indirect effects of ant predation (hymenoptera: formicidae) on bilberry vaccinium myrtillus |
url |
https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 |
genre |
Fennoscandian |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandian |
op_relation |
https://kramerius.lib.cas.cz/view/uuid:6d0b57d3-7a6b-4864-8643-c4e879dfd258 |
op_rights |
policy:public |
_version_ |
1793767183282601984 |