Experimental resource supplementation shifts ant-mediated defense on silver cholla

Jenna Braun, York University, Toronto, discusses her article: Experimental resource supplementation shifts ant-mediated defense on silver cholla Extra-floral nectaries (EFN) play an important role within mutualisms between plants and ants. In this relationship, ants receive a nutrient-rich food source from plants in exchange for defending the plant from herbivores. Ant species are not equally effective…

Optimal Defense Theory in an ant–plant mutualism

Here we take a closer look at a fascinating plant defense article by Calixto et al., which has recently been published in Journal of Ecology. Author Kleber Del-Claro explains different methods for anti-herbivore plant defenses and shares the results of this research, which is the first to show that ant recruitment via extrafloral nectar follows…