ArticleEcology letters2021
The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus-cultivar provisioning in free-ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant.
Article in Ecology letters, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ant abaecin-2 is a context-dependent copper-binding effector that can be either inhibitory or protective.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Harnessing Nutritional Niches to Explore Fungus-Animal Symbioses.Ecology letters · 2025Review
- Article
- Nutritional challenges of feeding a mutualist: Testing for a nutrient-toxin tradeoff in fungus-farming leafcutter ants.Ecology · 2022Article
- A fungal symbiont converts provisioned cellulose into edible yield for its leafcutter ant farmers.Biology letters · 2022Article
- The multidimensional nutritional niche of fungus-cultivar provisioning in free-ranging colonies of a neotropical leafcutter ant.Ecology letters · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Foraging trails of leafcutter colonies are iconic scenes in the Neotropics, with ants collecting freshly cut plant fragments to provision a fungal food crop. We hypothesised that the fungus-cultivar's requirements for macronutrients and minerals govern the foraging niche breadth of Atta colombica leafcutter ants. Analyses of plant fragments carried by foragers showed how nutrients from fruits, flowers and leaves combine to maximise cultivar performance. While the most commonly foraged leaves delivered excess protein relative to the cultivar's needs, in vitro experiments showed that the minerals P, Al and Fe may expand the leafcutter foraging niche by enhancing the cultivar's tolerance to protein-biased substrates. A suite of other minerals reduces cultivar performance in ways that may render plant fragments with optimal macronutrient blends unsuitable for provisioning. Our approach highlights how the nutritional challenges of provisioning a mutualist can govern the multidimensional realised niche available to a generalist insect herbivore.
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