Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina

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Granivorous animals, through seed consumption, may have an important influence on plant abundance, distribution and species composition in desert ecosystems. The aims of this study are twofold: to quantify the diet of Pogonomyrmex rastratus (Mayr) and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis (Santschi), and to estim...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pirk, G.I., Lopez De Casenave, J.
Formato: JOUR
Materias:
Foraging activity
Granivory
Harvester ants
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
ant
diet
foraging behavior
granivory
Argentina
Mendoza
Monte Desert
South America
Animalia
Aristida
Formicidae
Pappophorum
Trichloris crinita
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00201812_v53_n1_p119_Pirk
Aporte de:
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) de Universidad de Buenos Aires
id todo:paper_00201812_v53_n1_p119_Pirk
record_format dspace
spelling todo:paper_00201812_v53_n1_p119_Pirk2023-10-03T14:17:25Z Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina Pirk, G.I. Lopez De Casenave, J. Foraging activity Granivory Harvester ants Pogonomyrmex pronotalis Pogonomyrmex rastratus ant diet foraging behavior granivory Argentina Mendoza Monte Desert South America Animalia Aristida Formicidae Pappophorum Pogonomyrmex pronotalis Pogonomyrmex rastratus Trichloris crinita Granivorous animals, through seed consumption, may have an important influence on plant abundance, distribution and species composition in desert ecosystems. The aims of this study are twofold: to quantify the diet of Pogonomyrmex rastratus (Mayr) and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis (Santschi), and to estimate seed removal per colony of both species throughout their activity season (October-April) in the central Monte desert, Argentina. Both species rely heavily upon seeds, which account for 87-94 % of the items carried to the nests. Their diets are similar, consisting mainly of grass seeds, which represent more than 93% of the seeds. Among them, three species predominate: Aristida spp., Trichloris crinita and Pappophorum spp. Seasonal variations as well as seed species richness in the diet are also similar between species. However, their food-handling behaviour differs: most caryopses carried by P. pronotalis bear bracts whereas most caryopses carried by P. rastratus lack them. Seed removal per colony by P. rastratus (6 × 104 seeds/colony) and by P. pronotalis (5 × 104 seeds/colony) throughout the season is similar to the one reported for P. occidentalis in North America. However, seed removal per hectare, which could be estimated for P. rastratus (8.3 × 105 seeds/ha), is lower than removal rates reported for the North American species P. barbatus, P. desertorum, P. rugosus and P. californicus, probably because P. rastratus has lower activity levels and smaller colonies than the North American studied species. © Birkhäuser Verlag, 2006. JOUR info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00201812_v53_n1_p119_Pirk
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-134
collection Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA)
topic Foraging activity
Granivory
Harvester ants
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
ant
diet
foraging behavior
granivory
Argentina
Mendoza
Monte Desert
South America
Animalia
Aristida
Formicidae
Pappophorum
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
Trichloris crinita
spellingShingle Foraging activity
Granivory
Harvester ants
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
ant
diet
foraging behavior
granivory
Argentina
Mendoza
Monte Desert
South America
Animalia
Aristida
Formicidae
Pappophorum
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
Trichloris crinita
Pirk, G.I.
Lopez De Casenave, J.
Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
topic_facet Foraging activity
Granivory
Harvester ants
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
ant
diet
foraging behavior
granivory
Argentina
Mendoza
Monte Desert
South America
Animalia
Aristida
Formicidae
Pappophorum
Pogonomyrmex pronotalis
Pogonomyrmex rastratus
Trichloris crinita
description Granivorous animals, through seed consumption, may have an important influence on plant abundance, distribution and species composition in desert ecosystems. The aims of this study are twofold: to quantify the diet of Pogonomyrmex rastratus (Mayr) and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis (Santschi), and to estimate seed removal per colony of both species throughout their activity season (October-April) in the central Monte desert, Argentina. Both species rely heavily upon seeds, which account for 87-94 % of the items carried to the nests. Their diets are similar, consisting mainly of grass seeds, which represent more than 93% of the seeds. Among them, three species predominate: Aristida spp., Trichloris crinita and Pappophorum spp. Seasonal variations as well as seed species richness in the diet are also similar between species. However, their food-handling behaviour differs: most caryopses carried by P. pronotalis bear bracts whereas most caryopses carried by P. rastratus lack them. Seed removal per colony by P. rastratus (6 × 104 seeds/colony) and by P. pronotalis (5 × 104 seeds/colony) throughout the season is similar to the one reported for P. occidentalis in North America. However, seed removal per hectare, which could be estimated for P. rastratus (8.3 × 105 seeds/ha), is lower than removal rates reported for the North American species P. barbatus, P. desertorum, P. rugosus and P. californicus, probably because P. rastratus has lower activity levels and smaller colonies than the North American studied species. © Birkhäuser Verlag, 2006.
format JOUR
author Pirk, G.I.
Lopez De Casenave, J.
author_facet Pirk, G.I.
Lopez De Casenave, J.
author_sort Pirk, G.I.
title Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
title_short Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
title_full Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
title_fullStr Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants Pogonomyrmex rastratus and Pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central Monte desert, Argentina
title_sort diet and seed removal rates by the harvester ants pogonomyrmex rastratus and pogonomyrmex pronotalis in the central monte desert, argentina
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00201812_v53_n1_p119_Pirk
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AT lopezdecasenavej dietandseedremovalratesbytheharvesterantspogonomyrmexrastratusandpogonomyrmexpronotalisinthecentralmontedesertargentina
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