ArticleJournal of plant research2019
Extrafloral nectary-bearing plant Mallotus japonicus uses different types of extrafloral nectaries to establish effective defense by ants.
Article in Journal of plant research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Extrafloral Nectaries in Woody Plants: Toward an Integrated Framework for Ant-Mediated Plant Defense.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Nectary Structure and Nectar Secretion Characteristics Among Various Cultivars ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The complex dynamics of ant-plant mutualisms: exploring the roles of plant-provided resources and bird predation on ants in shaping plant performance.Annals of botany · 2025Article
- Defoliation in Perennial Plants: Predictable and Surprising Results inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Functional Ecology of External Secretory Structures inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Extrafloral nectary (EFN)-bearing plants attract ants to gain protection against herbivores. Some EFN-bearing plants possess different types of EFNs, which might have different effects on ants on the plants. Mallotus japonicus (Thunb.) Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) bears two types of EFNs, including a pair of large EFNs at the leaf base and many small EFNs along the leaf edge. This study aimed to determine the different roles of the two types of EFNs in biotic defense by ants. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of leaf damage on EFN production and on the distribution pattern of ants. After leaf damage, the number of leaf edge EFNs increased in the leaves first-produced. The number of ants on the leaves also increased, and the foraging area of ants extended from the leaf base to the leaf tip. An EFN-covering field experiment revealed that leaf edge EFNs had a greater effect than leaf base EFNs on ant dispersal on leaves. The extended foraging area of ants resulted in an increase of encounter or attack rate against an experimentally placed herbivore, Spodoptera litura. These results suggest that M. japonicus plants control the foraging area of ants on their leaves using different types of EFNs in response to leaf damage, thus achieving a very effective biotic defense against herbivores by ants.
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