Abstract
Examined the effects of seed dispersal by ants on the demography of 2 seed cohorts of Corydalis aurea: one relocated to ant nests by undisturbed ant foragers, and a control cohort of equal numbers planted by hand in the vicinity of each nest. The ant-treated cohort produced 90% more offspring than the control cohort and had a higher finite rate of increase: a finite rate of increase of 2.83 per year versus a rate of 2.05 per year for the control. The higher rate for the ant-treated cohort was the result not of an increase in the fecundity of reproductive plants, which did not differ significantly from that of the control, but of a significant increase in survival to reproduction. The benefit to the ant-handled plants was determined by the specific end point of dispersal, not by removal of seeds from the parent plant per se or distance moved. -from Authors
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | American Naturalist |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1988 |