Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
9
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
9 results for “Leaf-cutter ants”
Metagenomic and metaproteomic insights into bacterial communities in leaf-cutter ant fungus gardens
<p>The submitted protein sequences were compiled from two of our previous studies, 1) 'Metagenomic and metaproteomic insights into bacterial communities in leaf-cutter ant fungus gardens' (doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2012.10) and 2) 'Leucoagaricus gongylophorus Produces Diverse Enzymes for the Degradation of Recalcitrant Plant Polymers in Leaf-Cutter Ant Fungus Gardens' (doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03833-12).</p>
Data from: Leaf-cutter ants engineer large nitrous oxide hot spots in tropical forests
Though tropical forest ecosystems are among the largest natural sources of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O), the spatial distribution of emissions across landscapes is often poorly resolved. Leaf-cutter ants (LCA, Atta and Acromyrmex, Myrmicinae) are dominant herbivores throughout Central and South America and influence multiple aspects of forest structure and function. In particular, their foraging creates spatial heterogeneity by concentrating large quantities of organic matter (including nitrogen, N) from the surrounding canopy into their colonies, and ultimately, into colony refuse dumps. Here, we demonstrate that refuse piles created by LCA species Atta colombica in tropical rainforests of Costa Rica provide ideal conditions for extremely high rates of N2O production (high microbial biomass, potential denitrification enzyme activity, N content, and anoxia), and may represent an unappreciated source of heterogeneity in tropical forest N2O emissions. Average instantaneous refuse pile N2O fluxes surpassed background emissions by more than three orders of magnitude (in some cases exceeding 80,000 μg N2O-N m-2 h-1) and generating fluxes comparable to or greater than those produced by engineered systems such as wastewater treatment tanks. Refuse-concentrating Atta species are ubiquitous in tropical forests, pastures and production ecosystems, and increase density strongly in response to disturbance. As such, LCA colonies may represent an unrecognised greenhouse gas point source throughout the Neotropics.
Data from: Leaf-cutter ants engineer large nitrous oxide hot spots in tropical forests
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Biomechanical components of the plant-insect herbivore arms race: A model test in leaf-cutter ants
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Do an ecosystem engineer and environmental gradient act independently or in concert to shape juvenile plant communities? Tests with the leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata in a Neotropical savanna
Background. Ecosystem Engineers are species that transform habitats in ways that influence other species. While the impacts of many engineers have been well described, our understanding of how their impact varies along environmental gradients remains limited. Although disentangling the effects of gradients and engineers on biodiversity is complicated – the gradients themselves can be altered by engineers – doing so is necessary to advance conceptual and mathematical models of ecosystem engineering. We used leaf-cutter ants (Atta spp.) to investigate the relative influence of gradients and environmental engineers on the abundance and species richness of woody plants. Methods. We conducted our research in South America's Cerrado. With a survey of plant recruits along a canopy cover gradient, and data on environmental conditions that influence plant recruitment, we fit statistical models that addressed the following questions: (1) Does A. laevigata modify the gradient in canopy cover found in our Cerrado site? (2) Do environmental conditions that influence woody plant establishment in the Cerrado vary with canopy cover or proximity to A. laevigata nests? (3) Do A. laevigata and canopy cover act independently or in concert to influence recruit abundance and species richness? Results. We found that environmental conditions previously shown to influence plant establishment in the Cerrado varied in concert with canopy cover, but that ants are not modifying the cover gradient or cover over nests. However, ants are modifying other local environmental conditions, and the magnitude and spatial extent of these changes is consistent across the gradient. In contrast to prior studies, we found that ant-related factors (e.g., proximity to nests, ant changes in surface conditions), rather than canopy cover, had the strongest effect on the abundance of plant recruits. However, the diversity of plants was influenced by both the engineer and the canopy cover gradient. Discussion. Atta laevigata in the Cerrado modify local conditions in ways that have strong but spatially restricted consequences for plant communities. We hypothesize that ants indirectly reduce seedling establishment by clearing litter and reducing soil moisture, which leads to seed and seedling desiccation. Altering soil nutrients could also reduce juvenile growth and survivorship; if so these indirect negative effects of engineering could exacerbate their direct effects of harvesting plants. The effects of Atta appear restricted to nest mounds, but they could be long-lasting because mounds persist long after a colony has died or migrated. Our results support the hypothesis that leaf-cutter ants play a dominant role in Cerrado plant demography. We suggest the ecological and economic footprint of these engineers may increase dramatically in coming decades due to the transformation of the Cerrado by human activities.
Data from: Biotic-drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf-cutter ants as an ecological filter
Herbivory has been shown to have prominent top-down effects on vegetation in Paleotropical savannas, where consumers of early stages of life history act as demographic bottlenecks. Such impact has been largely ignored in Neotropical savannas, however, despite insect consumption being linked to reduced recruitment of woody species. We hypothesize that Atta leaf-cutter ants – the prevalent herbivores in the Neotropics – alter the establishment of woody plant seedlings in the Brazilian Cerrado by reducing seed availability and seedling survival. We also hypothesize that the demographic effects will be species-specific. To test these hypotheses, we experimentally (i) compared seed removal in areas with and without Atta foraging and (ii) compared the survivorship of seedlings exposed to or protected from Atta foraging. Both experiments were performed with the same common Cerrado species which allowed us to evaluate the potential net effects of consumers at the population and community levels. Overall seed removal rates in sites with Atta foraging were greater than those where ants were absent (59.2% and 39.2% of seeds removed, respectively). There were differences in removal for 10 of the 12 tested species, with per species removal 1.1- to 3.8-fold greater in areas with Atta foraging. On transplanted plants, 45% of seedlings exposed to Atta were attacked, resulting in a survival 7.6% lower than that of protected seedlings. Seedling survival was 11.8–31.5% lower in five species, with the largest differences in survival between treatments during the dry season. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that consumers can lead to demographic bottlenecks in Neotropical savanna plant species, with effects varying among life-history stages and between species. Synthesis. Granivory by ants has been linked to reduced seedling recruitment of woody species in the Brazilian Cerrado. Our results show that leaf-cutter ants may largely limit early seedling establishment of woody species by reducing seed availability and seedling survival with differential species-specific effects. Atta ants may therefore be acting as an ecological filter, which coupled with potential selectivity in foraging on reproductive life-history stages, may ultimately influence the relative abundance of different species and hence the structure and composition of Cerrado vegetation.
Data from: Biotic-drivers of seedling establishment in Neotropical savannas: selective granivory and seedling herbivory by leaf-cutter ants as an ecological filter
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Roads increase population growth rates of a native leaf-cutter ant in Neotropical savannahs
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Do an ecosystem engineer and environmental gradient act independently or in concert to shape juvenile plant communities? Tests with the leaf-cutter ant Atta laevigata in a Neotropical savanna
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.