Scholarlink

<p>The conversion of forest to artificial grasslands (pastures) is one of the most common land use changes in the Atlantic forest biome, which presents at the same time the highest area lost and biodiversity in Brazil. The mutualistic interactions between <i>Cecropia</i> spp. and <i>Azteca</i> ants vary spatiotemporally, and their dynamics are influenced by several factors, including species identity, plant ontogenetic stage, and habitat. Here, we evaluated the physical and chemical defenses of <i>Cecropia pachystachya</i> Trécul 1847 (Urticaceae) individuals, both colonized and non-colonized by ants, in forest and pasture habitats within the Atlantic Forest domain. We predicted that <i>C. pachystachya</i> leaf characteristics such as trichome density, hardness, and phenolic content would be higher in pasture than in forest habitats, and in non-colonized than in ant-colonized plants. Surprisingly, only the leaf trichome density varied between habitats and it was higher in the forest than in the pasture. Additionally, the presence of ants did not influence any other defense feature in <i>C. pachystachya</i>. These results have practical and theoretical implications. Firstly, as trichomes can improve plant protection against herbivory, it implies that even non-mature forests can play an important role in maintaining ecological function in the Atlantic Forest. Secondly, we also demonstrated that <i>C. pachystachya</i> populations do not seem to “delegate” their physical and chemical defenses completely to the mutualistic ant presence.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

The conversion of Atlantic forest to pastures changed physical but not chemical defenses in Cecropia pachystachya trécul (Urticaceae)

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月29日

查看全文
  • Lavínia Almeida Raimundo,
  • Mateus Sousa Porto,
  • Rosane Moura Aguiar,
  • Michele Martins Correa,
  • Ricardo Ildefonso Campos,
  • Karine Santana Carvalho

摘要

The conversion of forest to artificial grasslands (pastures) is one of the most common land use changes in the Atlantic forest biome, which presents at the same time the highest area lost and biodiversity in Brazil. The mutualistic interactions between Cecropia spp. and Azteca ants vary spatiotemporally, and their dynamics are influenced by several factors, including species identity, plant ontogenetic stage, and habitat. Here, we evaluated the physical and chemical defenses of Cecropia pachystachya Trécul 1847 (Urticaceae) individuals, both colonized and non-colonized by ants, in forest and pasture habitats within the Atlantic Forest domain. We predicted that C. pachystachya leaf characteristics such as trichome density, hardness, and phenolic content would be higher in pasture than in forest habitats, and in non-colonized than in ant-colonized plants. Surprisingly, only the leaf trichome density varied between habitats and it was higher in the forest than in the pasture. Additionally, the presence of ants did not influence any other defense feature in C. pachystachya. These results have practical and theoretical implications. Firstly, as trichomes can improve plant protection against herbivory, it implies that even non-mature forests can play an important role in maintaining ecological function in the Atlantic Forest. Secondly, we also demonstrated that C. pachystachya populations do not seem to “delegate” their physical and chemical defenses completely to the mutualistic ant presence.