title: Ant predation on herbivores through a multitrophic lens: how effects of ants on plant herbivore defense and natural enemies vary along temperature gradients.
abstract: Ants are keystone predators in terrestrial trophic cascades. Addressing ants' roles in multitrophic interactions across regional gradients is important for understanding mechanisms behind range limits of species. We present four hypotheses of trophic dynamics occurring when ants are rare: first, there is a shift in predator communities; second, plants decrease investments in ant attraction and increase production of secondary metabolites; third, lower herbivory at high elevations allows plants to tolerate herbivory; and fourth, distribution of ant-plants can be limited based on ant abundance. Conducting experiments on multitrophic effects of ants across elevational gradients, and incorporating these results to ecological niche modeling (ENM) will improve our knowledge of the impacts of global change on ants, trophic interactions, and biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas in Austin, Section of Integrative Biology, 205 West 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States. Electronic address: genioveva@gmail.com.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Castañeda
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Institut für spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Ebertstrasse 1, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brehm
authors.affiliation: Universität Wien, Department of Botany & Biodiversity Research, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno 89557, United States.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Dyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D060434:Herbivory; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D010944:Plants / Q000469:parasitology; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature