asymmetric dispersal and colonization success of amazonian plant-ants queens不对称分布和殖民成功的亚马逊plant-ants皇后区.pdfVIP

Asymmetric Dispersal and Colonization Success of Amazonian Plant-Ants Queens Emilio M. Bruna1,6*, Thiago J. Izzo2,6, Brian D. Inouye3,6, Maria Uriarte4,6, Heraldo L. Vasconcelos5,6 1 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America, ˆ ´ 2 Departamento de Botanica e Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil, 3 Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States of America, 4 Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of ˆ ˆ America, 5 Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 6 Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional ˆ de Pesquisas da Amazonia Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil Abstract Background: The dispersal ability of queens is central to understanding ant life-history evolution, and plays a fundamental role in ant population and community dynamics, the maintenance of genetic diversity, and the spread of invasive ants. In tropical ecosystems, species from over 40 genera of ants establish colonies in the stems, hollow thorns, or leaf pouches of specialized plants. However, little is known about the relative dispersal ability of queens competing for access to the same host plants. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used empirical data and inverse modeling—a technique developed by plant ecologists to model seed dispersal—to quantify and compare the dispersal kernels of queens from three Amazonian