Extrafloral nectar is the main food source offered by plants to predatory ants in most land
environments. Although many studies have demonstrated the importance of extrafloral …

1.Temporal variation has been one remarkable feature of ecological interactions. In ant–plant
mutualism, this variation is widely known, although little is understood about the …

Interactions between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the
most common mutualisms in Neotropical regions. Plants secrete extrafloral nectar, a …

Plant-animal interactions occur in a community context of dynamic and complex ecological
interactive networks. The understanding of who interacts with whom is a basic information, …

All mutualistic plant–animal interactions are mediated by costs and benefits in relationships
where resources (from plants) are exchanged by services (from animals). The most common …

Plants allocate defences in order to decrease costs and maximize benefits against herbivores.
The Optimal Defense Theory (ODT) predicts that continuously expressed (ie constitutive) …

Abstract Knowledge about plant defense systems against herbivory is crucial to understanding
trophic relationships in terrestrial ecosystems. Distinct defenses may act either alone or in …

The accumulation of chronic sleep deficits combined with acute sleep loss is common in
shift workers and increases the risk of errors and accidents. We investigated single and …

Ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the most abundant interacting
organisms in the Neotropics, being considered excellent models for studies of ecological …

Ants are abundant in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in the Brazilian Cerrado, where they
can play several roles at different levels of the food chain, including protection of plants …