All mutualistic plant–animal interactions are mediated by costs and benefits in relationships
where resources (from plants) are exchanged by services (from animals). The most common …

Ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the most abundant
interacting organisms in the Neotropics, being considered excellent models for studies of …

Interactions between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the
most common mutualisms in Neotropical regions. Plants secrete extrafloral nectar, a …

Plants allocate defences in order to decrease costs and maximize benefits against
herbivores. The Optimal Defense Theory (ODT) predicts that continuously expressed (ie …

Plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFN s) vary the secretion of nectar between day and
night, which creates turnover in the composition of interacting ant species. Daily variation in …

Indirect plant defense is an important component in regulating population dynamics and the
structure of numerous communities in different ecosystems. These defenses mainly involve …

Ant–plant mutualisms are useful models for investigating how plant traits mediate
interspecific interactions. As plant‐derived resources are essential components of ant diets …

A field experiment was conducted with outplantings of the native perennial shrub Senna
mexicana var. chapmanii in a semi-natural area adjacent to native pine rockland habitat in …

Abstract Information on direct and indirect drivers of temporal variation in ant–plant
interactions is scarce, compromising our ability to predict the functioning of these …

The tools involved in the study of ecological networks are relatively new and very useful to
improve the knowledge about communities, biodiversity, and their conservation. In many …