| Ants can due to their high numbers and by being organized as superorganisms provide a number of services for plants including commercial crops. First, ants may prey on or deter arthropod and in some cases even vertebrate pests (Way & Khoo 1992; Goheen & Palmer 2010). Secondly, they may fertilize their host plants by depositing fecal spots on plant tissue. These fecal spots may contain important nutrients that can be taken up directly by plant leaves (Vidkjær et al. 2016; Pinkalski et al. 2018). In addition, ants may enrich the soil around plant roots with increased nutrient levels due to their foraging activities (Folgarait 1998; Frouz et al. 2008; Wagner & Fleur Nicklen 2010). Lastly, ants may also provide plant services by reducing plant... |
