caa a22 4500 469098201 CHVBK 20180323133037.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e19920801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/BF00317789 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/BF00317789 Symbiotic ants as an alternative defense against giraffe herbivory in spinescent Acacia drepanolobium [Elektronische Daten] [Derek Madden, Truman Young] Summary: We explore here the occurrence of aggressive ants in an apparently symbiotic relationship with the savanna tree Acacia drepanolobium and their effects on giraffe herbivory on the Athi-Kapiti Plains, Kenya. Trees taller than 1.3 m were more likely to be occupied by aggressive ants in the genus Crematogaster than were shorter trees. Ants wereconcentrated on shoot tips, the plant parts preferred by giraffes. Trees with relatively more foliage had more swarming ants than did trees with less foliage. The feeding behavior of individual freeranging giraffes on Acacia drepanolobium was studied. Giraffe calves exhibited a strong sensitivity to Crematogaster ants inhabiting A. drepanolobium, feeding for significantly shorter periods on trees with a greater number of aggressive ants. Older giraffes were apparently less sensitive to ants, and did not feed for shorter periods on trees with fuller foliage, despite significantly greater ant activity on these plants. The thorns of A. drepanolobium are significantly shorter than are the thorns of A. seyal, a species without symbiotic ants, a pattern that may indicate a trade-off between ants and thorns as defenses. Springer-Verlag, 1992 Acacia ants nationallicence Giraffes nationallicence Defense nationallicence Myrmecophytes nationallicence Crematogaster nationallicence Thorns nationallicence Madden Derek School for Field Studies, 16 Broadway, Beverly, MA, USA aut Young Truman School for Field Studies, 16 Broadway, Beverly, MA, USA aut Oecologia Springer-Verlag 91/2(1992-08-01), 235-238 0029-8549 91:2<235 1992 91 442 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317789 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317789 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Madden Derek School for Field Studies, 16 Broadway, Beverly, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Young Truman School for Field Studies, 16 Broadway, Beverly, MA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Oecologia Springer-Verlag 91/2(1992-08-01), 235-238 0029-8549 91:2<235 1992 91 442 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer