NDLI: Why ant pollination is rare: new evidence and implications of the antibiotic hypothesis

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Dutton, Emily M. Frederickson, Megan E.
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	The antibiotic hypothesis proposes that ant pollination is rare at least in part because the cuticular antimicrobial secretions of ants are toxic to pollen grains. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the effects of ants and bees on pollen in two regions: a tropical rainforest in Amazonian Peru and temperate forests and old fields in Canada. We found support for three predictions that follow from the antibiotic hypothesis. (1) For all 10 ant and 11 plant species in our study, contact with ants significantly reduced pollen germination, confirming the generality of this effect. (2) Contact with two bee species did not have similar effects; pollen exposed to bees germinated as well as control pollen. (3) Consistent with the presumed greater abundance of entomopathogens in the tropics, which may have selected for stronger antibiotic secretions in tropical ants, tropical ants had more negative effects on pollen than temperate ants. We speculate that the antibiotic hypothesis contributes not only to the rarity but also to the biogeography of ant pollination, and we discuss whether the negative effects of ants on pollen have resulted in selection for floral defenses against ants.
Starting Page	561
Ending Page	569
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISSN	18728855
Journal	Arthropod-Plant Interactions
Volume Number	6
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	18728847
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2012-05-19
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Ant–plant interactions Cuticular antimicrobial secretions Disease resistance Insect immunity Hymenoptera Tropical rainforests Behavioural Sciences Invertebrates Ecology Plant Pathology Plant Sciences Entomology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Insect Science Agronomy and Crop Science

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