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The Ecology Of Nest Cavity Use By Arboreal Ants In The Brazilian Cerrado: Resource Availability, Nest Modification, And Trophic Interactions, Galen Priest
Dissertations
Arboreal ants in the Brazilian Cerrado rely on cavities in living trees as nest sites. These cavities are created by a community of, wood-boring beetles, which act as ecosystem engineers. Despite the importance of these cavities as a resource, little is known about their natural abundance and heterogeneity, how ants use and modify them as nest sites, and how this interaction between cavities and their ant occupants influences trophic interactions on cerrado trees. Here I use natural history observations and manipulative experiments to address these questions. In the first chapter I quantified the occurrence, heterogeneity, and use of beetle-created cavities …
Coexistence Of Sympatric Taxa Of Chamaecrista Section Xerocalyx: Addressing The Interplay Between Morphology And Biotic Interactions, Beatriz Baker-Méio
Coexistence Of Sympatric Taxa Of Chamaecrista Section Xerocalyx: Addressing The Interplay Between Morphology And Biotic Interactions, Beatriz Baker-Méio
Dissertations
Animal-plant interactions may prevent gene flow and promote divergent selection among closely related plants, ultimately leading to formation of new species. This may be the case for Chamaecrista sect. Xerocalyx, in which two or more of the 24 varieties often are encountered in the same area, with marked morphological and phenological differences among them. Over a broad geographical range, however, the morphological gaps among varieties disappear. Several biotic interactions contribute to the fitness of Chamaecrista species. Their flowers are pollinated by bees, and herbivores attack their leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. In addition, all species produce extrafloral nectar, which …