Limited ant co-occurrence and defensive mutualism in Acacia plants in a West African savanna.

ABSTRACT: Our understanding of the role of fire and effect of ant species composition, beyond their diversity and abundance, on the effectiveness of mutualism defence is limited. Most of our knowledge of ant-plant defence in tropical Africa is biased towards East African savannas which have richer soil, higher primary productivity and a more diverse arthropods and mammal community than West African savannas. We assessed the diversity of ant species associated with Acacia species in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in the Dahomey Gap, and their impacts on elephant damage. Elephant damage, ant diversity and abundance were measured in stands of five Acacia species. Eleven ant species were identified in the Acacia stands. The composition of these ant communities varied across Acaci

SUBMITTER: Djogbenou A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8255073 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature