ArticleCommunications biology2025
Phenology modulates the top-down control of ants on bird ectoparasites: from mutualism to antagonism.
Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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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4 authors.
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Abstract
Bird-ant interactions are diverse but rarely tested experimentally, limiting their integration into ecological theory. One hypothesized but unverified benefit is ant-mediated parasite control in bird nests. Here, we present the first experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis in a wild system involving house sparrows (Passer domesticus), arboreal ants (Crematogaster scutellaris), and blood-feeding mites (Pellonyssus reedi). Using field ant-exclusion experiments, we show that ant presence reduces mite abundance and enhances chick growth early in the breeding season, but has detrimental effects later. Nestlings in ant-excluded nests also show consistently higher H/L ratios, indicating greater physiological stress. Structural equation modeling reveals that ant effects on nestling condition are indirect and mediated by mite load. Our findings provide the first causal demonstration of ant-mediated parasite suppression in birds, revealing that the outcome of this interaction is highly context-dependent. This work underscores the dynamic nature of species interactions and highlights overlooked ecological roles of ants in avian systems.
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