Disruption of an ant-plant mutualism shapes interactions between lions and their primary prey

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kamaru, Douglas N.; Palmer, Todd M.; Riginos, Corinna; Ford, Adam T.; Belnap, Jayne; Chira, Robert M.; Githaiga, John M.; Gituku, Benard C.; Hays, Brandon R.; Kavwele, Cyrus M.; Kibungei, Alfred K.; Lamb, Clayton T.; Maiyo, Nelly J.; Milligan, Patrick D.; Mutisya, Samuel; Ng'weno, Caroline C.; Ogutu, Michael; Pietrek, Alejandro G.; Wildt, Brendon T.; Goheen, Jacob R.
• 署名单位: University of Wyoming; University of Wyoming; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; Nature Conservancy; University of British Columbia; United States Department of the Interior; United States Geological Survey; University of Nairobi; Duke University; University of Glasgow; University of Glasgow; Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE); University of Nevada Reno; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET)
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11849
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adg1464
• 发表日期: 2024-01-26
• 页码: 433-438
• 关键词: large carnivores; landscape; predators; fear; communities; symbiosis; DYNAMICS; rainfall; SPACE; tool

摘要

Mutualisms often define ecosystems, but they are susceptible to human activities. Combining experiments, animal tracking, and mortality investigations, we show that the invasive big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala) makes lions (Panthera leo) less effective at killing their primary prey, plains zebra (Equus quagga). Big-headed ants disrupted the mutualism between native ants (Crematogaster spp.) and the dominant whistling-thorn tree (Vachellia drepanolobium), rendering trees vulnerable to elephant (Loxodonta africana) browsing and resulting in landscapes with higher visibility. Although zebra kills were significantly less likely to occur in higher-visibility, invaded areas, lion numbers did not decline since the onset of the invasion, likely because of prey-switching to African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We show that by controlling biophysical structure across landscapes, a tiny invader reconfigured predator-prey dynamics among iconic species.