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Dispersal of Schinus fasciculatus seeds by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex striatus in a shrubland of the dry Chaco, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2003

R. Omar Varela
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecología Vegetal, Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251, Tucumán (4000), Argentina
Teresa C. Perera
Affiliation:
San Martín, 1327, Tucumán (4000), Argentina

Abstract

Ants are important agents of seed dispersal and they can play a fundamental role in the establishment and survival of plants (Beattie 1985). Leaf-cutting or fungus-growing ants (Myrmicinae: Attini) are dominant elements of the ant fauna throughout the neotropics. They collect different types of vegetative and reproductive plant material that serve as substrate for underground fungus gardens,which are the only food source for their larvae (Stradling 1991).

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
2003 Cambridge University Press

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