Ecology: 'Devil's gardens' bedevilled by ants.
'Devil's gardens' are large stands of trees in the Amazonian rainforest that consist almost entirely of a single species, Duroia hirsuta, and, according to local legend, are cultivated by an evil forest spirit. Here we show that the ant Myrmelachista schumanni, which nests in D. hirsuta stems, creates devil's gardens by poisoning all plants except its host plants with formic acid. By killing these other plants, M. schumanni provides its colonies with abundant nest sites--a long-lasting benefit as colonies can live for 800 years.
Frederickson
Megan E
ME
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5020, USA. meganf@stanford.edu
Greene
Michael J
MJ
Gordon
Deborah M
DM
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D017753:Ecosystem; D005561:Formates / Q000378:metabolism*; D006540:Herbicides / Q000378:metabolism*; D011042:Poisons / Q000378:metabolism; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011891:Rain; D013045:Species Specificity; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*; D014329:Tropical Climate
D005561:Formates; D006540:Herbicides; D011042:Poisons; C030544:formic acid