Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species
Exclusion of ground-nesting ants from tree canopies is an ant-management technique used in fruit crops. This strategy aims to disrupt the symbiotic relationship between ants and honeydew-producing herbivores, which are protected by ants, and enhance the biological control of these herbivores. Here,...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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Elsevier
2024
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8971 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167880924002834?via%3Dihub |
| _version_ | 1855032888091738112 |
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| author | Plata, Ángel Gómez-Martínez, María A. Beitia, Francisco J. Tena, Alejandro |
| author_browse | Beitia, Francisco J. Gómez-Martínez, María A. Plata, Ángel Tena, Alejandro |
| author_facet | Plata, Ángel Gómez-Martínez, María A. Beitia, Francisco J. Tena, Alejandro |
| author_sort | Plata, Ángel |
| collection | ReDivia |
| description | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants from tree canopies is an ant-management technique used in fruit crops. This strategy aims to disrupt the symbiotic relationship between ants and honeydew-producing herbivores, which are protected by ants, and enhance the biological control of these herbivores. Here, we evaluated this strategy to enhance the biological control of mealybugs in persimmon, but obtained an unexpected outcome. Using a randomized block design in a commercial persimmon orchard during two consecutive years, we demonstrated that physical barriers based on sticky bands excluded native ground-nesting ant species from persimmon trees and reduced the protection that these ants provided to mealybugs. The exclusion of native ground-nesting ants also increased the density and efficacy of the biological control agents of the mealybug. However, physical barriers favoured the establishment of the exotic canopy-nesting ant species Cardiocondyla obscurior. This ant species established its colonies under the sepals of persimmon fruit, and its abundance increased by more than 10 times in trees with physical barriers. Our results show that the exclusion of native ground-nesting from fruit trees can promote the control of invasive mealybugs, but may also facilitate the establishment and spread of exotic canopy-nesting ant species, hence increasing their invasive potential. Further research should evaluate alternative ant management strategies to enhance biological control of honeydew-producing herbivores without benefiting exotic canopy-nesting ant species. |
| format | article |
| id | ReDivia8971 |
| institution | Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ReDivia89712025-04-25T14:49:44Z Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species Plata, Ángel Gómez-Martínez, María A. Beitia, Francisco J. Tena, Alejandro Lasius grandis Cardiocondyla obscurior Exotic species Mutualism Persimmon H10 Pests of plants Parasitism Exclusion of ground-nesting ants from tree canopies is an ant-management technique used in fruit crops. This strategy aims to disrupt the symbiotic relationship between ants and honeydew-producing herbivores, which are protected by ants, and enhance the biological control of these herbivores. Here, we evaluated this strategy to enhance the biological control of mealybugs in persimmon, but obtained an unexpected outcome. Using a randomized block design in a commercial persimmon orchard during two consecutive years, we demonstrated that physical barriers based on sticky bands excluded native ground-nesting ant species from persimmon trees and reduced the protection that these ants provided to mealybugs. The exclusion of native ground-nesting ants also increased the density and efficacy of the biological control agents of the mealybug. However, physical barriers favoured the establishment of the exotic canopy-nesting ant species Cardiocondyla obscurior. This ant species established its colonies under the sepals of persimmon fruit, and its abundance increased by more than 10 times in trees with physical barriers. Our results show that the exclusion of native ground-nesting from fruit trees can promote the control of invasive mealybugs, but may also facilitate the establishment and spread of exotic canopy-nesting ant species, hence increasing their invasive potential. Further research should evaluate alternative ant management strategies to enhance biological control of honeydew-producing herbivores without benefiting exotic canopy-nesting ant species. 2024-09-03T11:08:47Z 2024-09-03T11:08:47Z 2024 article acceptedVersion Plata, Á., Gómez-Martínez, M. A., Beitia, F. J., & Tena, A. (2024). Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 375, 109165. 1873-2305 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8971 10.1016/j.agee.2024.109165 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167880924002834?via%3Dihub en This research was supported by the national project RTA2017–00095 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the project IVIA-GVA 52202 from Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (this project is susceptible of being co-financed by the European Union through the ERDF Program 2021–2027 Comunitat Valenciana). ´Angel Plata received the predoctoral grant PRE2018–083714 from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ERDF/PCV 2021-2027/52202/ES/Control biológico de plagas y enfermedades como pieza clave en el impulso de la Sostenibilidad de los cultivos agrarios de la Comunidad Valenciana/SOSTENIBLE Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ openAccess Elsevier electronico |
| spellingShingle | Lasius grandis Cardiocondyla obscurior Exotic species Mutualism Persimmon H10 Pests of plants Parasitism Plata, Ángel Gómez-Martínez, María A. Beitia, Francisco J. Tena, Alejandro Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title_full | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title_fullStr | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title_short | Exclusion of ground-nesting ants promotes biological control, but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy-nesting ant species |
| title_sort | exclusion of ground nesting ants promotes biological control but facilitates the establishment of an exotic canopy nesting ant species |
| topic | Lasius grandis Cardiocondyla obscurior Exotic species Mutualism Persimmon H10 Pests of plants Parasitism |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8971 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167880924002834?via%3Dihub |
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