作者: Steven M. Ostoja , Eugene W. Schupp , Rob Klinger
DOI: 10.1111/J.1600-0706.2012.19969.X
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摘要: Granivore foraging decisions affect consumer success and determine the quantity spatial pattern of seed survival. These are influenced by environmental variation at scales ranging from landscapes to local patches. In a field experiment, effects patch across three on removal western harvester ants Pogonomyrmex occidentalis were evaluated. At largest scale we assessed harvesting in different plant communities, intermediate distances ant mounds, smallest interactions among species neighborhoods (i.e. resource–consumer interface). Selected presented alone (monospecific treatment) mixture with Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass; four P. mounds adjacent intact sagebrush non-native cheatgrass-dominated communities Great Basin, Utah, USA. Seed differed harvest, B. being least preferred. Large harvest. More seeds harvested than (largest scale), varied distance (intermediate-scale), although form effect between communities. scale, neighborhood affected but patterns considered. Ants fewer mixed-seed monospecific neighborhoods, suggesting context dependence potential associational resistance. Further, community mound harvest mixtures their treatments. Beyond neighborhood, selection resources is better understood simultaneously evaluating multiple scales. Associational provide useful theoretical basis for understanding decisions. results demonstrate importance ecological removal, which has implications pools, populations