title: Individual-based ant-plant networks: diurnal-nocturnal structure and species-area relationship.
abstract: Despite the importance and increasing knowledge of ecological networks, sampling effort and intrapopulation variation has been widely overlooked. Using continuous daily sampling of ants visiting three plant species in the Brazilian Neotropical savanna, we evaluated for the first time the topological structure over 24 h and species-area relationships (based on the number of extrafloral nectaries available) in individual-based ant-plant networks. We observed that diurnal and nocturnal ant-plant networks exhibited the same pattern of interactions: a nested and non-modular pattern and an average level of network specialization. Despite the high similarity in the ants' composition between the two collection periods, ant species found in the central core of highly interacting species totally changed between diurnal and nocturnal sampling for all plant species. In other words, this "night-turnover" suggests that the ecological dynamics of these ant-plant interactions can be temporally partitioned (day and night) at a small spatial scale. Thus, it is possible that in some cases processes shaping mutualistic networks formed by protective ants and plants may be underestimated by diurnal sampling alone. Moreover, we did not observe any effect of the number of extrafloral nectaries on ant richness and their foraging on such plants in any of the studied ant-plant networks. We hypothesize that competitively superior ants could monopolize individual plants and allow the coexistence of only a few other ant species, however, other alternative hypotheses are also discussed. Thus, sampling period and species-area relationship produces basic information that increases our confidence in how individual-based ant-plant networks are structured, and the need to consider nocturnal records in ant-plant network sampling design so as to decrease inappropriate inferences.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Wesley
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dáttilo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Interações, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fagundes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos A Q
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gurka
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mara S A
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marisa C L
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Izzo
authors.affiliation: Red de Interacciones Multitróficas, Instituto de Ecología A.C. Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
authors.forename: Cecília
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díaz-Castelazo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Interações, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kleber
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Del-Claro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rico-Gray
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D004463:Ecology; D065948:Grassland; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology*