Tank bromeliads as natural microcosms: a facultative association with ants influences the aquatic invertebrate community structure

Abstract

Many tank bromeliads have facultative relationships with ants as is the case in French Guiana between Aechmea aquilega (Salib.) Griseb. and the trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus haematodus Linnaeus. Using a redundancy analysis, we determined that the presence of O. haematodus colonies is accompanied by a greater quantity of fine particulate organic matter in the water likely due to their wastes. This increase in nutrient availability is significantly correlated with an increase in the abundance of some detritivorous taxa, suggesting a positive bottom-up influence on the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities living in the A. aquilega wells. On the other hand, the abundance of top predators is negatively affected by a lower number of available wells due to ant constructions for nesting, releasing a top-down pressure that could also favor lower trophic levels.

Keywords: Aechmea; Ant–bromeliad associations; Aquatic communities; Associations broméliacées–fourmis; Communautés aquatiques; Odontomachus; Phytotelm; Phytotelme.