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Shepard GH, Daly L. Sensory Ecology, Bioeconomy, and the Age of COVID: A Parallax View of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge. Top Cogn Sci 2023. [PMID: 37440457 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Drawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon, we examine synergies and dissonances between Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge about the environment, resource use, and sustainability. By focusing on the sensory dimension of Indigenous engagements with the environment-an approach we have described as "sensory ecology" and explored through the method of "phytoethnography"-we promote a symmetrical dialogue between Indigenous and scientific understandings around such phenomena as animal-plant mutualisms, phytochemical toxicity, sustainable forest management in "multinatural" landscapes, and the emergence of new diseases like the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Drawing examples from our own and other published works, we explore the possibilities and limitations of a "parallax view" attempting to hold Indigenous and scientific knowledge in focus simultaneously. As the concept of "bioeconomy" emerges as a key alternative for sustainable development of the Amazon, we encourage a critical and urgent engagement between dominant Western conceptions and Indigenous Amazonian knowledge, practices, and cultural values. Cognitive science, which has long contributed to studies of Indigenous categorization and conceptualization of the natural world, continues to play an important role in building bridges of mutual communication and respect between Indigenous and scientific approaches to sustainability and biodiversity conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lewis Daly
- Department of Anthropology, University College London
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Milligan PD, Martin TA, Pringle EG, Prior KM, Palmer TM. Symbiotic ant traits produce differential host-plant carbon and water dynamics in a multi-species mutualism. Ecology 2023; 104:e3880. [PMID: 36199213 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Cooperative interactions may frequently be reinforced by "partner fidelity feedback," in which high- or low-quality partners drive positive feedbacks with high or low benefits for the host, respectively. Benefits of plant-animal mutualisms for plants have been quantified almost universally in terms of growth or reproduction, but these are only two of many sinks to which a host-plant allocates its resources. By investigating how partners to host-plants impact two fundamental plant resources, carbon and water, we can better characterize plant-partner fidelity and understand how plant-partner mutualisms may be modulated by resource dynamics. In Laikipia, Kenya, four ant species compete for Acacia drepanolobium host-plants. These ants differ in multiple traits, from nectar consumption to host-plant protection. Using a 5-year ant removal experiment, we compared carbon fixation, leaf water status, and stem non-structural carbohydrate concentrations for adult ant-plants with and without ant partners. Removal treatments showed that the ants differentially mediate tree carbon and/or water resources. All three ant species known to be aggressive against herbivores were linked to benefits for host-plant resources, but only the two species that defend but do not prune the host, Crematogaster mimosae and Tetraponera penzigi, increased tree carbon fixation. Of these two species, only the nectivore C. mimosae increased tree simple sugars. Crematogaster nigriceps, which defends the tree but also castrates flowers and prunes meristems, was linked only to lower tree water stress approximated by pre-dawn leaf water potential. In contrast to those defensive ants, Crematogaster sjostedti, a poor defender that displaces other ants, was linked to lower tree carbon fixation. Comparing the effects of the four ant species across control trees suggests that differential ant occupancy drives substantial differences in carbon and water supply among host trees. Our results highlight that ant partners can positively or negatively impact carbon and/or water relations for their host-plant, and we discuss the likelihood that carbon- and water-related partner fidelity feedback loops occur across ant-plant mutualisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick D Milligan
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.,Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki, Kenya.,Department of Biology, Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Timothy A Martin
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Elizabeth G Pringle
- Department of Biology, Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
| | - Kirsten M Prior
- Department of Biology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York, USA
| | - Todd M Palmer
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.,Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki, Kenya
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Females restrict the position of domatia and suffer more herbivory than hermaphrodites in Myriocarpa longipes, a neotropical facultative myrmecophyte. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467421000584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractDomatia are hollow structures in plants occupied by ant colonies, in turn ants provide protection against herbivores. In plants, competition for resources has driven sex-related changes in the patterns of resource allocation to life-history traits and defence traits. The resource-competition hypothesis (RCH) proposes that female plants due to their higher investment in reproduction will allocate fewer resources to defence production, showing greater herbivore damage than other sexual forms. We hypothesise the existence of sex-related differences in defensive traits of domatia-bearing plants, being female plants less defended due to differences in domatia traits, such as size, number of domatia and their position, exhibiting more herbivore damage than hermaphrodite plants of Myriocarpa longipes, a facultative neotropical myrmecophyte. We found eight species of ants inhabiting domatia; some species co-inhabited the same plant, even the same branch. Our results are consistent with the predictions of RCH, as female plants had ant-inhabited domatia restricted to the middle position of their branches and exhibited greater herbivore damage in leaves than hermaphrodites. However, we did not find differences in domatia size and leaf area between sexual forms. Our study provides evidence for intersexual differences in domatia position and herbivory in a facultative ant–plant mutualism in M. longipes. We highlight the importance of considering the plant sex in ant–plant interactions. Differences in resource allocation related to sexual reproduction could influence the outcome of ant–plant interactions.
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Kokolo B, Attéké Nkoulémbéné C, Ibrahim B, M'Batchi B, Blatrix R. Phenotypic plasticity in size of ant-domatia. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20948. [PMID: 33262446 PMCID: PMC7708978 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77995-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Ant-plants produce hollow structures called domatia to host protecting ants. Although size variation in domatia is well documented between related species, intraspecific variation is little explored. The central African ant-plant Barteria dewevrei exibits strong variation in domatium size, giving the opportunity to explore the mechanism underlying variation in a mutualistic trait. We showed that domatium size in Barteria dewevrei varies between sites. We transplanted individual plants between two sites in Gabon where plants have different domatium sizes. Domatium size of transplanted plants changed, revealing that variation in this mutualistic trait is driven by phenotypic plasticity. The two sites differed in their environmental conditions: highland open savanna on sandy soil vs lowland closed tropical rain forest on sandy-loam soil. However, as stomatal density and δ13C of leaves did not differ between sites or between branches produced before and after transplantation, we have no cue on the role of abiotic stress (such as light intensity and water availability) in domatium size variation. As the obligate Tetraponera ant symbionts are too large to fit in the small domatia, variation of the mutualistic trait in response to environmental change through phenotypic plasticity may impact this specialized mutualism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Kokolo
- Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), BP 901, Franceville, Gabon.
| | - Christiane Attéké Nkoulémbéné
- Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), BP 901, Franceville, Gabon
| | - Brama Ibrahim
- Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), BP 901, Franceville, Gabon
| | - Bertrand M'Batchi
- Laboratoire de Physiologie Animale, Unité de Recherche Agrobiologie, Université des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku (USTM), BP 901, Franceville, Gabon
| | - Rumsais Blatrix
- CEFE, Université de Montpellier - CNRS - EPHE - IRD - Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
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Tooker JF, Giron D. The Evolution of Endophagy in Herbivorous Insects. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 11:581816. [PMID: 33250909 PMCID: PMC7673406 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.581816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Herbivorous feeding inside plant tissues, or endophagy, is a common lifestyle across Insecta, and occurs in insect taxa that bore, roll, tie, mine, gall, or otherwise modify plant tissues so that the tissues surround the insects while they are feeding. Some researchers have developed hypotheses to explain the adaptive significance of certain endophytic lifestyles (e.g., miners or gallers), but we are unaware of previous efforts to broadly characterize the adaptive significance of endophagy more generally. To fill this knowledge gap, we characterized the limited set of evolutionary selection pressures that could have encouraged phytophagous insects to feed inside plants, and then consider how these factors align with evidence for endophagy in the evolutionary history of orders of herbivorous insects. Reviewing the occurrence of endophytic taxa of various feeding guilds reveals that the pattern of evolution of endophagy varies strongly among insect orders, in some cases being an ancestral trait (e.g., Coleoptera and Lepidoptera) while being more derived in others (e.g., Diptera). Despite the large diversity of endophagous lifestyles and evolutionary trajectories that have led to endophagy in insects, our consideration of selection pressures leads us to hypothesize that nutritionally based factors may have had a stronger influence on evolution of endophagy than other factors, but that competition, water conservation, and natural enemies may have played significant roles in the development of endophagy.
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Affiliation(s)
- John F. Tooker
- Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - David Giron
- Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l’Insecte, UMR 7261, CNRS/Université de Tours, Parc Grandmont, Tours, France
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Báez S, Donoso DA, Queenborough SA, Jaramillo L, Valencia R, Dangles O. Ant Mutualism Increases Long-Term Growth and Survival of a Common Amazonian Tree. Am Nat 2016; 188:567-575. [DOI: 10.1086/688401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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The discovery of devil's gardens: an ant–plant mutualism in the cloud forests of the Eastern Amazon. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467416000195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Abstract:Devil's gardens are one of the most remarkable mutualistic associations between ants and plants. Myrmelachista ants eliminate all vegetation from around their host plants, resulting in wide forest clearings which have intrigued scientists from the start. Despite their noticeability, here we report the discovery of devil's gardens in remote highland cloud forests of the Eastern Amazon, more than 2000 km away from their nearest known analogues in Western Amazonia. We describe the ecological characteristics of these gardens and consider what factors could have produced the geographic isolation of Eastern Amazonian devil's gardens. Three hypotheses are investigated: (1) the host plant distribution restricts the distribution of the mutualism, (2) the ecological tolerances of Myrmelachista explain the isolation, and (3) the devil's gardens of the Eastern Amazon constitute relicts from ancient forest refugia. The distribution of the possible associated myrmecophytes and previously described ecological ranges of devil's gardens cannot explain their ecological restriction to cloud forests in Eastern Amazonia, but our discovery is consistent with the biogeographic refuge hypothesis (i.e. highlands along the Amazon Basin constitute refugia for humid forests that spread during the Cenozoic). Our finding opens exciting perspectives for comparative studies of the origin, ecology and evolutionary history of this ant–plant mutualism.
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Chanam J, Sheshshayee MS, Kasinathan S, Jagdeesh A, Joshi KA, Borges RM. Nutritional benefits from domatia inhabitants in an ant-plant interaction: interlopers do pay the rent. Funct Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joyshree Chanam
- Centre for Ecological Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012, India
| | - Madavalam Sreeman Sheshshayee
- Department of Crop Physiology; University of Agricultural Sciences; Gandhi Krishi Vignyan Kendra; Bangalore 560054, India
| | - Srinivasan Kasinathan
- Centre for Ecological Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012, India
| | - Amaraja Jagdeesh
- Centre for Ecological Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012, India
| | - Kanchan A. Joshi
- Centre for Ecological Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012, India
| | - Renee M. Borges
- Centre for Ecological Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; Bangalore 560012, India
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Peccoud J, Piatscheck F, Yockteng R, Garcia M, Sauve M, Djiéto-Lordon C, Harris DJ, Wieringa JJ, Breteler FJ, Born C, McKey D, Blatrix R. Multi-locus phylogenies of the genus Barteria (Passifloraceae) portray complex patterns in the evolution of myrmecophytism. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2012. [PMID: 23178742 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The four species of the central African genus Barteria show variation in habitat and in degree of association with ants. Whereas B. solida, restricted to submontane forests, attracts opportunistic ants to extrafloral nectar, the three other species, found in lowland rainforests (B. fistulosa, B. dewevrei) and in littoral scrub (B. nigritana), possess stem domatia of varying shapes and degrees of specialisation, hosting either non-specific arboreal ants (B. nigritana, some B. dewevrei) or two large species of ants of the genus Tetraponera Smith, 1852 that are specific to some species of Barteria (B. fistulosa, some B. dewevrei). We aimed to investigate whether this variation represents an evolutionary trend toward increasing specialisation of mutualism or the reduction or loss of myrmecophytic traits. For this, we determined phylogenetic relationships within the genus using DNA sequences (primarily nuclear ITS) and microsatellite genotypes (11 loci) on a large sample of individuals, mostly from Cameroon and Gabon. The two types of markers support an initial dichotomy that groups B. dewevrei with B. nigritana and B. fistulosa with B. solida respectively. Within these pairs, species do not appear reciprocally monophyletic. At microsatellite loci, B. nigritana forms a clade embedded within B. dewevrei; and within both B. solida and B. fistulosa, geographical populations show levels of differentiation similar to that observed between populations of B. solida and B. fistulosa. Geographic distance alone does not account for genetic differentiation between species, which indicates reproductive isolation. Divergence in each of the two pairs implies evolutionary transitions in habitat and in myrmecophytism. Specialised mutualism with specific ant species of the genus Tetraponera has been lost in species found in more marginal habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean Peccoud
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS, Université Montpellier 2, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France
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Nakano M, Feitosa R, Moraes C, Adriano L, Hengles E, Longui E, Morini M. Assembly of Myrmelachista Roger (Formicidae: Formicinae) in twigs fallen on the leaf litter of Brazilian Atlantic Forest. J NAT HIST 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2012.707247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M.A. Nakano
- a Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes , Postal Code 08701-970 , Mogi das Cruzes , SP , Brazil
| | - R.M. Feitosa
- b Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo , Postal Code 04263-000 , Ipiranga, São Paulo , SP , Brazil
| | - C.O. Moraes
- a Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes , Postal Code 08701-970 , Mogi das Cruzes , SP , Brazil
| | - L.D.C. Adriano
- a Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes , Postal Code 08701-970 , Mogi das Cruzes , SP , Brazil
| | - E.P. Hengles
- a Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes , Postal Code 08701-970 , Mogi das Cruzes , SP , Brazil
| | - E.L. Longui
- c Instituto Florestal , Postal Code 1322 , São Paulo , SP , Brazil
| | - M.S.C. Morini
- a Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes , Postal Code 08701-970 , Mogi das Cruzes , SP , Brazil
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