All mutualistic plant–animal interactions are mediated by costs and benefits in relationships
where resources (from plants) are exchanged by services (from animals). The most common …

The net outcomes of mutualisms are mediated by the trade-offs between the costs and
benefits provided by both partners. Our review proposes the existence of a trade-off in ant …

Trophallaxis is a complex social fluid exchange emblematic of social insects and of ants in
particular. Trophallaxis behaviors are present in approximately half of all ant genera …

Many studies assume that all ant species collecting extrafloral nectar defend plants against
herbivores, although ant–plant interactions are facultative, generalized and have variable …

Current evidence suggests that ant–plant relationships may influence species composition,
abundance, and interactions at the community scale. The main resource that plants offer to …

Temporal variation has been one remarkable feature of ecological interactions. In ant–plant
mutualism, this variation is widely known, although little is understood about the …

Plants allocate defences in order to decrease costs and maximize benefits against
herbivores. The Optimal Defense Theory (ODT) predicts that continuously expressed (ie …

Mechanisms that affect a host plant's ability to face herbivory are subjects of ongoing
interest. Plant reproductive phenology plays a key role in the dynamics of communities in …

Plants and ants have widespread relationships that are commonly mediated by the offer of
extrafloral nectar (EFN) to ants that protect plants against herbivores. However, these ant …

Although fire‐and ant–plant interactions influence the community structure and dynamics of
Neotropical savannas, no previous studies have considered their simultaneous effects on …