ArticleAnnals of botany2013
The diversity, ecology and evolution of extrafloral nectaries: current perspectives and future challenges.
Article in Annals of botany, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 190 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mapping the research landscape of extrafloral nectaries: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis (1894-2026).Frontiers in plant science · 2026Pooled it
- Chemical Signaling and Integrated Strategies for Biological Control in Crop Agroecosystems.Insects · 2026Review
- Extrafloral Nectaries in Woody Plants: Toward an Integrated Framework for Ant-Mediated Plant Defense.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Tri-trophic consequences of plant-to-plant volatile signalling and its contingency on plant relatedness in wild cotton.Annals of botany · 2026Article
- Multifunctional Roles of Extrafloral Nectaries in Shaping Plant-Insect Interactions.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Nectary Structure and Nectar Secretion Characteristics Among Various Cultivars ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Deciphering histochemical and ultrastructural features of calyx nectaries to understand the secretory process in two species of Clerodendrum (Lamiaceae).Protoplasma · 2025Article
- Recruitment of Sugar Transport and Scent Volatile Genes for Prey Attraction in the Nectar Spoon of Heliamphora tatei.Evolution & development · 2025Article
- Sequential Defense Strategies: From Ant Recruitment to Leaf Toughness.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Convergent evolution of fern nectaries facilitated independent recruitment of ant-bodyguards from flowering plants.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Foraging ants affect community composition and diversity of phyllosphere fungi on a myrmecophilous plants,Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Histochemical, metabolic and ultrastructural changes in leaf patelliform nectaries explain extrafloral nectar synthesis and secretion in Clerodendrum chinense.Annals of botany · 2024Article
- Emerging Trends in Ant-Pollinator Conflict in Extrafloral Nectary-Bearing Plants.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Plant Reproductive Success Mediated by Nectar Offered to Pollinators and Defensive Ants in Terrestrial Bromeliaceae.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Spider-Plant Interaction: The Role of Extrafloral Nectaries in Spider Attraction and Their Influence on Plant Herbivory and Reproduction.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Inaugural Description of Extrafloral Nectaries in Sapindaceae: Structure, Diversity and Nectar Composition.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Generalized mutualisms promote range expansion in both plant and ant partners.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Ultrastructural changes during nectar secretion from extrafloral nectaries of Pithecellobium dulce Benth.Protoplasma · 2023Article
- Marginal leaf galls on Pliocene leaves from India indicate mutualistic behavior between Ipomoea plants and Eriophyidae mites.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPlants in over one hundred families in habitats worldwide bear extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). EFNs display a remarkable diversity of evolutionary origins, as well as diverse morphology and location on the plant. They secrete extrafloral nectar, a carbohydrate-rich food that attracts ants and other arthropods, many of which protect the plant in return. By fostering ecologically important protective mutualisms, EFNs play a significant role in structuring both plant and animal communities. And yet researchers are only now beginning to appreciate their importance and the range of ecological, evolutionary and morphological diversity that EFNs exhibit. SCOPE: This Highlight features a series of papers that illustrate some of the newest directions in the study of EFNs. Here, we introduce this set of papers by providing an overview of current understanding and new insights on EFN diversity, ecology and evolution. We highlight major gaps in our current knowledge, and outline future research directions.
conclusionsOur understanding of the roles EFNs play in plant biology is being revolutionized with the use of new tools from developmental biology and genomics, new modes of analysis allowing hypothesis-testing in large-scale phylogenetic frameworks, and new levels of inquiry extending to community-scale interaction networks. But many central questions remain unanswered; indeed, many have not yet been asked. Thus, the EFN puzzle remains an intriguing challenge for the future.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.