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  • 1
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Responses of the trunk routes of a harvester ant to plant density (1993)
    Springer
    Oecologia 93 (1993), S. 109-113 
    Details
    ISSN: 1432-1939
    Keywords: Trunk routes ; Harvester ants ; Phalanx ; Guerilla ; Messor barbarus
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Messor barbarus is a Mediterranean harvester ant that constructs physically defined trunk routes on the ground to connect nest entrances with foraging areas. Some responses of these trunk routes to plant density (and therefore resource abundance) were analyzed by testing the preferential allocation of different parts (trunk route ends, segments and branching points) in a patchy environment. Maps of grass density in four categories and Messor barbarus trunk routes were compiled for a Mediterranean pasture in Central Spain over four consecutive years. The proportions of the density categories in each year were used to calculate random expected frequencies of the trunk route points and the predominance of higher or lower grass densities. Trunk route ends discriminate and selectively reach patches with a greater abundance of resources in all study years. Branching points are also allocated preferentially in areas with higher vegetation density, but only in years with a predominance of the higher categories of grass density. In these years, the colonies of Messor barbarus have a “phalanx” strategy at a colonial level, and branching is more profuse. Finally, trunk route segments do not indicate any preference for crossing determined vegetation densities, but rather connect successive branching points or trunk route ends by the shortest route. These results concur with a model of structural strategy change (“guerilla” — “phalanx”) (Hutchings 1988) at the level of trunk routes. They are probably constituted by “transitory” sections with few branches, that expand other more profusely branched sections which are more dedicated to foraging.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00321199
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
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  • 2
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Asymmetric interactions between plants and seed-harvesting ants in a Mediterranean pasture (2000)
    Springer
    Ecological research 15 (2000), S. 449-452 
    Details
    ISSN: 1440-1703
    Keywords: asymmetric interactions ; foraging strategies ; Messor barbarus ; seed-harvesting ants ; vegetation dynamics
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: A four-year study on the interactions between plants and seed-harvesting ants in a Mediterranean pasture is reviewed in this paper. As previously reported in many studies on plant–herbivore interactions, ant–plant relationships are also asymmetric; plants had a larger impact on herbivore dynamics than vice versa. However, the asymmetry did not refer to population dynamics but rather to animal foraging strategies. Ants did not exert a significant influence on vegetation dynamics in terms of plant abundance. The main constraints underlying vegetation change were self-regulation and rainfall. In contrast, the structural characteristics and abundance of vegetation had a significant impact on several important features of food harvesting by ants. This influence was not only associated with their feeding requirements but also with their foraging activities.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1703.2000.00364.x
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
    Fulltext
  • 3
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Temperature-vegetation structure interaction: the effect on the activity of the ant Messor barbarus (L.) (1992)
    Springer
    Plant ecology 99-100 (1992), S. 119-128 
    Details
    ISSN: 1573-5052
    Keywords: Microclimate ; Canopy type ; Evergreen oak ecosystem ; Colony activity ; Ants ; Messor barbarus
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Several canopy types in an evergreen oak forest with open pastures have been used to examine climatic features of this system related to temperature. Circadian variation in temperature seems to be related to structural characteristics of the vegetation, with an apparent influence of the plant micro- and meso-environments analyzed. The activity of a population of granivorous ants (Messor barbarus (L.)), studied in the same area, showed a clear dependence on ambient temperature, but, although the colonies were always inside one of the vegetation types, there was no significant relationship between the activity of ants and grasscover. This, together with other observations, indicates that the possible controlling effect of the vegetation is limited by the tolerance of ants (when faced with adverse conditions) during each daily foraging period.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
    URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00118217
    Library Location Call Number Volume/Issue/Year Availability
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    Paper (German National Licenses)
    Fulltext
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