myrmecology Myrmecology (; from Greek: μύρμηξ, ''myrmex'', "ant" and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants. Some early myrmecologists considered ant society as the ideal form of society and ...

and

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

, a devil's garden (

Kichwa Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. The most widely spoken dialects are Chimbor ...

: ''Supay chakra''Frederickson, M. E., & Gordon, D. (2007). The devil to pay: the cost of mutualism with ''

Myrmelachista schumanni ''Myrmelachista schumanni'', also known as the lemon ant, is a species of ant from South America. It is notable for the creation of Devil's garden. Using its own herbicide they kill off all the plants in an area except for the myrmecophytes ...

'' ants in 'devil's gardens' is increased herbivory on ''Duroia hirsuta'' trees. ''Proc. R. Soc. B''. 274 (1613): 1117-23.David P. Edwards, Megan E. Frederickson, Glenn H. Shepard, and Douglas W. Yu (2009):
A Plant Needs Ants like a Dog Needs Fleas: Myrmelachista schumanni Ants Gall Many Tree Species to Create Housing.
'' The American Naturalist 174, no. 5: pp. 734-740.) is a large stand of trees in the Amazon rainforest consisting of at most three tree species and the ant ''

''. Devil's gardens can reach up to sizes of 600 trees and are inhabited by a single ant colony, containing up to 3 million workers and 15,000 queens.Frederickson, M. E., Greene, M. J., & Gordon, D. (2005). Ecology: 'Devil's gardens' bedevilled by ants. ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' 437: 495-6. In a 2002 to 2004 census of the Amazon, devil's gardens were shown to have grown by 0.7 % per year. The relationship between tree and ant may persist for more than 800 years. A devil's garden is considered an example of mutualism, a type of symbiotic relationship between species.

Background

Devil's gardens were named because locals believed that an evil forest spirit

Chullachaki The Chullachaki (Quechua, "one-footed", from ''chulla'' or ''ch'ulla'' = single, odd, unpaired, asymmetric, ''chaki'' = foot; spelling sometimes also used in Spanish)Gustavo Rodríguez. ''El chullachaki en la otra selva.'' Lima: QG editores, 2011 ...

(meaning "uneven foot, single foot" in Kichwa) or Chuyathaqi lived in them.Pablo Amaringo: Ayahuasca Visions
- "a vision of the Supay-chacra or garden of the Chullachaki."BBC News
Devilish ants control the garden
21 September 2005. Retrieved August 12, 2006.

Types

Inhabited by the ant ''

,'' devil's gardens, in different regions of the Amazon, can be dominated by different tree species. In southeastern Peru, devil's gardens are dominated by '' Cordia nodosa'' ( Boraginaceae) and occasionally mixed with '' Tococa occidentalis'' (

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, s ...

). At higher elevations, the tree species '' Tapirira guianensis'' (

Anacardiaceae The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...

) can be found dominating gardens. In southeastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru the most common tree species found in devil's gardens are '' Duroia hirsuta'' (

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...

Symbiosis

The mutualistic symbiosis between the ant ''

'' and the tree '' Duroia hirsuta'' begins when an ant queen colonizes an isolated tree. The ants make nesting sites in the hollow stems and leaves of the tree, called

domatia A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...

. The ants eliminate competition for the tree by poisoning all plants, except the host tree, with formic acid. Because other plants are killed off, ''D. hirsuta'' saplings are able to grow and the ant colony is able to expand. The tree provides shelter (hollow stems and domatia) and food (leaves) for the ants, and the ants provide a suitable environment for the trees to grow by eliminating competing plants. Although the ants fend off herbivores, the size of the garden is restricted by leaf destruction increasing as it expands, as the ants are unable to defend the trees beyond a certain point.

References

{{reflist Myrmecology Forest ecology Symbiosis Indigenous culture of the Amazon