Diaspore (e.g. seeds, fruits) dispersal is pivotal for plant communities and often involves several steps and different dispersing agents. Most studies focusing on diaspore dispersal by animals have highlighted the role of vertebrates, neglecting the role of ants in the diaspore dispersal of non‐myrmecochorous plants. Diaspore dispersal by ants is especially relevant in the current scenario of declining of vertebrate populations and, consequently, collapse of the dispersal system of large‐seeded plants. Although ants can never compensate for the dispersal service provided by vertebrates, they can mitigate the impact of vertebrate decline via removal of diaspores deposited on the ground. We have used a meta‐analytical approach to investigate the contribution of ants in the removal of non‐myrmecochorous diaspores (through vertebrate exclusion experiments). We considered the number of diaspore removal as effect size and factors such as plant growth forms, diaspore and ant size, habitat type as moderators. In addition, we investigated the role of such factors on the diaspore removal distance by ants. Ants played complementary role to non‐myrmecochorous diaspore removal services provided by vertebrates (mean Hedges’ g of −0.30). The ant diaspore removal was 69% higher for diaspores from shrubs than that of tree diaspores and removal of small‐sized diaspores were 69% and 70% higher in comparison to medium‐ and large‐sized diaspores, respectively. Regarding the diaspore removal distance by ants, those of tree species were removed 32% farther than those of shrub species, and diaspores were removed three‐ times farther in the savanna than in rainforest ecosystems. Our results highlight the shrubs and small‐sized diaspores. Regarding the diaspore removal distance, the ants can be crucial for the dispersal of tree diaspores and in the savanna ecosystems. Finally, considering the biodiversity crisis, the ants may play an even more important role than appreciated in diaspores dispersal.

中文翻译：

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蚂蚁作为非孢子虫植物的透水剂：荟萃分​​析

散孢子（例如种子，果实）的散布对于植物群落至关重要，通常涉及多个步骤和不同的散布剂。多数专注于动物传播diaspore的研究都强调了脊椎动物的作用，而忽略了蚂蚁在非线虫植物的diaspore传播中的作用。在当前脊椎动物种群数量减少的情况下，蚂蚁对孢子的扩散尤其重要，因此，大种子植物的传播系统崩溃了。尽管蚂蚁永远无法补偿脊椎动物提供的分散服务，但它们可以通过去除沉积在地面上的硬孢子来减轻脊椎动物衰落的影响。我们已经使用了荟萃分析的方法（通过脊椎动物排斥实验）研究了蚂蚁在去除非孢子虫硬生孢子中的作用。我们将去除水生孢子的数量视为影响的大小，并将诸如植物生长形式，水生孢子和蚂蚁的大小，栖息地类型等因素作为调节剂。此外，我们调查了这些因素对蚂蚁去除毛孔的距离的作用。蚂蚁在脊椎动物提供的非萌芽性硬藻去除服务中起补充作用（平均树篱的g为-0.30）。与树木相比，灌木中的渗出物对蚂蚁渗出物的去除率要高出69％，与中型和渗出性相比，小渗出物的去除率分别高出69％和70％。关于蚂蚁对水生孢子的去除距离，树木的去除率比灌木的去除率高32％，而大草原中的水生去除率比热带雨林生态系统的去除率高三倍。我们的结果突出了灌木和小型水生孢子。关于水生孢子的去除距离，蚂蚁对于树木水生孢子和热带稀树草原的扩散至关重要。最后，考虑到生物多样性危机，蚂蚁在散布孢子的过程中可能起着比欣赏更重要的作用。