Green islands — predation not nutrition
- 1 September 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Oecologia
- Vol. 68 (3) , 476-478
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01036758
Abstract
The existence of green islands around wood-ant nests in otherwise damaged birch forests has been explained by two alternative hypotheses: (1) predation by ants protects the trees against defoliators, and (2) the ants ameliorate tree vigor by concentrating soil nutrients. The size of green islands and the nitrogen content of the soil and foliage do not support the nutrition hypothesis. These data and general knowledge about the foraging strategy of wood ants are consistent with the predation hypothesis.Keywords
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