Figures
Water stress strengthens ant–plant mutualism
An Azteca pittieri ant patrols the surface of an Ecuador laurel tree (Cordia alliodora) in Jalisco, Mexico. When water is scarce, trees support more sap-feeding scale insects that feed defending ants, and ants provide better defense against leaf-eating pests. Pringle et al. (e1001705) show that this pattern can be explained by the high costs of leaf loss to trees when conditions are dry.
Image Credit: Enrique Ramírez-García
Citation: (2013) PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 11(11) November 2013. PLoS Biol 11(11): ev11.i11. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v11.i11
Published: November 26, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
An Azteca pittieri ant patrols the surface of an Ecuador laurel tree (Cordia alliodora) in Jalisco, Mexico. When water is scarce, trees support more sap-feeding scale insects that feed defending ants, and ants provide better defense against leaf-eating pests. Pringle et al. (e1001705) show that this pattern can be explained by the high costs of leaf loss to trees when conditions are dry.
Image Credit: Enrique Ramírez-García