Ant-Plant Mutualism in Hawai‘i? Invasive Ants Reduce Flower Parasitism but Also Exploit Floral Nectar of the Endemic Shrub Vaccinium reticulatum (Ericaceae)

Date
2011-07
Authors
Bleil, Richard
Bluthgen, Nico
Junker, Robert R.
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Honolulu, University of Hawaii
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Ants had been absent from the Hawaiian Islands before their human introduction. Today they cause severe alterations of ecosystems and displace native biota. Due to their strong demand on carbohydrate-rich resources, they often exploit floral nectar of native Hawaiian plant species with largely unknown consequences for the plants’ reproduction. We examined effects of flower-visiting invasive ants on reproduction of the endemic shrub Vaccinium reticulatum (Ericaceae) in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Ant densities in flowers were high and floral nectar was excessively exploited, which may lead to a reduced visitation rate of pollinators. However, the ants’ presence on flowers strongly reduced flower parasitism by caterpillars of the introduced plume moth Stenoptilodes littoralis and thus decreased the loss of flowers and buds. This is, to our knowledge, the first documented mutualism between invasive ants and an endemic plant species in Hawai‘i. Developed fruits of this partly self-incompatible plant, however, bore relatively low proportions of viable seeds, irrespective of the experimentally controlled visitor spectrum of the flowers. This may indicate that ants do not function as pollinators and that effective pollinators (probably Hylaeus bees) are scant or absent.
Description
v. ill. 23 cm.
Also available through BioOne: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2984/65.3.311
Quarterly
Keywords
Natural history--Periodicals., Science--Periodicals, Natural history--Pacific Area--Periodicals.
Citation
Bleil R, Bluthgen N, Junker R. Ant-Plant Mutualism in Hawai‘i? Invasive Ants Reduce Flower Parasitism but Also Exploit Floral Nectar of the Endemic Shrub Vaccinium reticulatum (Ericaceae). Pac Sci 65(3): 291-300.
Extent
10 pages
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.