Ant-Plant Interactions
Impacts of Humans on Terrestrial Ecosystems

The first volume devoted to anthropogenic effects on interactions between ants and flowering plants, considered major parts of terrestrial ecosystems.

Paulo S. Oliveira (Edited by), Suzanne Koptur (Edited by)

9781107159754, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 August 2017

452 pages, 173 b/w illus. 29 colour illus. 14 tables
25.3 x 18.1 x 2.5 cm, 1.06 kg

'In summary, because it treats situations from temperate climate regions in addition to the tropics, this volume covers cases that will interest a wide range of readers.' Alain Dejean, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Ants are probably the most dominant insect family on earth, and flowering plants have been the dominant plant group on land for more than 100 million years. In recent decades, human activities have degraded natural environments with unparalleled speed and scale, making it increasingly apparent that interspecific interactions vary not only under different ecological conditions and across habitats, but also according to anthropogenic global change. This is the first volume entirely devoted to the anthropogenic effects on the interactions between these two major components of terrestrial ecosystems. A first-rate team of contributors report their research from a variety of temperate and tropical ecosystems worldwide, including South, Central and North America, Africa, Japan, Polynesia, Indonesia and Australia. It provides an in-depth summary of the current understanding for researchers already acquainted with insect-plant interactions, yet is written at a level to offer a window into the ecology of ant-plant interactions for the mostly uninitiated international scientific community.

Preface. Ants and plants: a prominent interaction in a changing world Paulo S. Oliveira and Suzanne Koptur
Part I. Landscape Mosaics, Habitat Fragmentation and Edge Effects: 1. Ant biodiversity and functional roles in fragmented forest and grassland ecosystems of the agricultural Midwest, North America Thomas O. Crist and Kaitlin U. Campbell
2. Diversity and specificity of ant-plant interactions in canopy communities: insights from primary and secondary tropical forests in New Guinea Petr Klimes
3. Living together in novel habitats: a review of land-use change impacts on mutualistic ant-plant symbioses in tropical forests Tom M. Fayle, Chua Wanji, Edgar C. Turner and Kalsum M. Yusah
4. Ecology of leaf-cutting ants in human-modified landscapes Marcelo Tabarelli, Felipe F. S. Siqueira, Julia Backé, Rainer Wirth and Inara R. Leal
Part II. Ant-Seed Interactions and Man-Induced Disturbance: 5. Global change impacts on ant-mediated seed dispersal in Eastern North American forests Robert J. Warren II, Joshua R. King, Lacy Chick and Mark A. Bradford
6. Effects of human disturbance and climate change on myrmecochory in Brazilian Caatinga Inara R. Leal, Laura C. Leal, Fernanda M. P. de Oliveira, Gabriela B. Arcoverde and Alan N. Andersen
7. Anthropogenic disturbances affect the interactions between ants and fleshy fruits in two neotropical biodiversity hotspots Paulo S. Oliveira, Alexander V. Christianini, Ana G. D. Bieber and Marco A. Pizo
Part III. Ant-Plant Protection Systems under Variable Habitat Conditions: 8. Plasticity and efficacy of defense strategies against herbivory in ant-visited plants growing in variable abiotic conditions Akira Yamawo
9. Interhabitat variation in the ecology of extrafloral nectar production and associated ant assemblages in Mexican landscapes Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo, Nathalia Chavarro-Rodríguez and Victor Rico-Gray
10. Integrating ecological complexity into our understanding of ant-plant mutualism: ant-acacia interactions in African savannas Todd M. Palmer and Truman P. Young
11. Ecological and evolutionary responses of protective ant-plant mutualisms to environmental changes Doyle McKey and Rumsaïs Blatrix
Part IV. Effect of Invasive Ants on Plants and their Mutualists: 12. Playing the system: the impacts of invasive ants and plants on facultative ant-plant interactions Suzanne Koptur, Ian M. Jones, Hong Liu and Cecilia Díaz-Castelazo
13. Biological invasions and ant-flower networks on islands Nico Blüthgen, Christopher Kaiser-Bunbury and Robert R. Junker
14. Mutualisms and the reciprocal benefits of comparing systems with native and introduced ants Joshua H. Ness and David A. Holway
15. Invasion biology and ant-plant systems in Australia Lori Lach
Part V. Applied Ant Ecology: Agroecosystems, Ecosystem Engineering and Restoration: 16. Services and disservices of ant communities in tropical cacao and coffee agroforestry systems Yann Clough, Stacy Philpott and Teja Tscharntke
17. Ant-plant-herbivore interactions in northern neotropical agroecosystems Inge Armbrecht and Ivette Perfecto
18. Leaf-cutting ants in Patagonia: how human disturbances affect their role as ecosystem engineers on soil fertility, plant fitness and trophic cascades Alejandro G.Farji-Brener, Mariana Tadey and María N. Lescano
Part VI. Perspectives: 19. The study of interspecific interactions in habitats under anthropogenic disturbance: importance and applications Martin Heil and Marcia González-Teuber
20. Why study ant-plant interactions? Andrew J. Beattie.

Subject Areas: Wildlife: butterflies, other insects & spiders [WNCN], Applied ecology [RNC], Insects [entomology PSVT7], Animal behaviour [PSVP], Plant ecology [PSTS], Botany & plant sciences [PST]