Herbivory has been identified as a potent evolutionary force, but its ecological impacts have
been frequently underestimated. Leaf‐cutting ants represent one of the most important …

Ants are probably the most dominant insect group on Earth, representing ten to fifteen
percent of animal biomass in terrestrial ecosystems. Flowering plants, meanwhile, owe their …

Plant-animal interactions have become a focus of ecological research, with the processes of
herbivory being of special interest. This volume examines the interactions of leaf-cutting ants …

Ants are recognized as one of the major sources of soil disturbance world‐wide. However,
this view is largely based on isolated studies and qualitative reviews. Here, for the first time …

Leaf-cutting ants, being the principal herbivores and ecosystem engineers in the Neotropics,
have been considered to be a keystone species in natural ecosystems and agroecosystems …

1 We studied the dispersal system of the tree Clusia criuva (Clusiaceae) in a tropical rain
forest in south-east Brazil. An observational/experimental approach was adopted to estimate …

Ants are often attracted to diaspores not adapted for dispersal by ants. These diaspores may
occasionally benefit from this interaction. We selected six nonmyrmecochorous plant …

Given the abundance of litter‐foraging ants and fallen fleshy diaspores on the floor of
tropical forests, interactions involving them should be common and may render important …

Ants frequently interact with non-myrmecochorous diaspores on the ground in neotropical
savannas. Our objective was to quantify the removal rate of these diaspores by ants and …

Fleshy diaspores (fruits, seeds) comprise a large portion of the litter on the floor of tropical
forests, and interactions involving litter-foraging ants and diaspores are common in these …