• DOI:10.1126/science.1151579
Corpus ID: 32467164

Breakdown of an Ant-Plant Mutualism Follows the Loss of Large Herbivores from an African Savanna

@article{Palmer2008BreakdownOA,
  title={Breakdown of an Ant-Plant Mutualism Follows the Loss of Large Herbivores from an African Savanna},
  author={T. M. Palmer and M. Stanton and T. Young and J. Goheen and Robert M. Pringle and R. Karban},
  journal={Science},
  year={2008},
  volume={319},
  pages={192 - 195}
}

T. M. Palmer, M. Stanton, +3 authors R. Karban

Published 2008

Biology, Medicine

Science

Mutualisms are key components of biodiversity and ecosystem function, yet the forces maintaining them are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of removing large mammals on an ant-Acacia mutualism in an African savanna. Ten years of large-herbivore exclusion reduced the nectar and housing provided by plants to ants, increasing antagonistic behavior by a mutualistic ant associate and shifting competitive dominance within the plant-ant community from this nectar-dependent mutualist to an… CONTINUE READING

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