Ants defend coffee from berry borer colonization

David J. Gonthier; Katherine K. Ennis; Stacy M. Philpott; John Vandermeer; Ivette Perfecto

doi:10.1007/s10526-013-9541-z

Ants defend coffee from berry borer colonization

David J. Gonthier
, Katherine K. Ennis
, Stacy M. Philpott
, John Vandermeer
, Ivette Perfecto

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

78 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ants frequently prevent herbivores from damaging plants. In agroecosystems they may provide pest control services, although their contributions are not always appreciated. Here we compared the ability of eight ant species to prevent the coffee berry borer from colonizing coffee berries with a field exclusion experiment. We removed ants from one branch (exclusion) and left ants to forage on a second branch (control) before releasing 20 berry borers on each branch. After 24 h, six of eight species had significantly reduced the number of berries bored by the berry borer compared to exclusion treatment branches. While the number of berries per branch was a significant covariate explaining the number of berries bored, ant activity (that varied greatly among species) was not a significant factor in models. This study is the first field experiment to provide evidence that a diverse group of ant species limit the berry borer from colonizing coffee berries.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	815-820
Number of pages	6
Journal	BioControl
Volume	58
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-013-9541-z
State	Published - Dec 2013

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We thank Gabriel Dominguez and Pedro Perez Lopez for field assistance in the collection of this data. We thank Finca Irlanda for allowing us access to work within the coffee plantation. We also thank the Associate Editor A. Janssen and two anonymous reviewers for improving previous manuscripts. Funding was provided by the University of Michigan, Rackham International Research Award, NSF-GRF (DGE-0718128) to D. Gonthier, NSF Grant (DEB-1309786) to D. Gonthier and I. Perfecto, and NSF grant (DEB-1020096) to S. Philpott.

Funding

Acknowledgments We thank Gabriel Dominguez and Pedro Perez Lopez for field assistance in the collection of this data. We thank Finca Irlanda for allowing us access to work within the coffee plantation. We also thank the Associate Editor A. Janssen and two anonymous reviewers for improving previous manuscripts. Funding was provided by the University of Michigan, Rackham International Research Award, NSF-GRF (DGE-0718128) to D. Gonthier, NSF Grant (DEB-1309786) to D. Gonthier and I. Perfecto, and NSF grant (DEB-1020096) to S. Philpott.

Funders	Funder number
NSF-GRF	DGE-0718128
National Science Foundation (NSF)	DEB-1020096, DEB-1309786
University of Michigan Hospital

Keywords

Agroecology
Ant
Ant-plant defense
Biodiversity
Coffee
Ecosystem services
Formicidae
Pest control

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Agronomy and Crop Science
Insect Science

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10.1007/s10526-013-9541-z

Cite this

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title = "Ants defend coffee from berry borer colonization",

abstract = "Ants frequently prevent herbivores from damaging plants. In agroecosystems they may provide pest control services, although their contributions are not always appreciated. Here we compared the ability of eight ant species to prevent the coffee berry borer from colonizing coffee berries with a field exclusion experiment. We removed ants from one branch (exclusion) and left ants to forage on a second branch (control) before releasing 20 berry borers on each branch. After 24 h, six of eight species had significantly reduced the number of berries bored by the berry borer compared to exclusion treatment branches. While the number of berries per branch was a significant covariate explaining the number of berries bored, ant activity (that varied greatly among species) was not a significant factor in models. This study is the first field experiment to provide evidence that a diverse group of ant species limit the berry borer from colonizing coffee berries.",

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Ants defend coffee from berry borer colonization

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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