8: Palmer et al 2008

Question 1

what was removed in the experiment and what did this reduce?

Answer 1

large mammals from ant-acacia mutualism

- reduced nectar and housing provided by plants

Question 2

what were trees with antagonist species like?

Answer 2

more stem boring beetle attacks, grew slower, doubled in mortality

Question 3

what was the tree studied?

Answer 3

whistling thorn tree in African savannah

Question 4

what do the branch nodes and leaf bases produce?

Answer 4

hollow swollen thorns (domatia)

EFN

Question 5

which of the species relies entirely on the host?

Answer 5

T.penzia

Question 6

what did herbivore exclusion result in?

Answer 6

reduced rewards, active nectaries and domatia production

• reduced average size of C.m colonies
• negative impact on growth and survival of trees
• change in ant community

Question 7

what is ant acacia community structure driven by?

Answer 7

differences in the 4 ant species and how much they depend on the host plant for rewards

Question 8

which of the species was not influenced by the herbivore exclusion?

Answer 8

T.penzia

Question 9

what does large herbivore browsing induce?

Answer 9

greater proportion of nectary and domatia rewards that influence the behaviour of the ant symbiont

Question 10

what are the 4 ant species study and how do they vary?

Answer 10

T.penzia, C.mimisae, C.siostedti, C.nigriceps

- vary in defence of host tree and use of host tree rewards

Question 11

when looking at proportion of trees occupied what was found to be a good and poor defender?

Answer 11

C.s poor- when no large herbivores are more of these ants

C.m good- when no herbivore reduction in trees occupied by ants as they rely on the tree for rewards

Question 12

what are trees colonised by a poor defender like?

Answer 12

high mortality and low growth rate

Question 13

what does facilitation of destructive tree boring insects by C.s provide?

Answer 13

mechanism for negative impact of ant on tree growth and survival