Field Experiment: EFN Reduction (Leaves)

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if preventing plants from producing EFN decreased ant visitation and increased leaf herbivory. The experiment was conducted at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, Florida. Plant is an identifier to distinguish specific plants. Treatment can be either "EFN glued" (extrafloral nectaries were covered with clear nail polish to stop extrafloral nectar secretion) or "EFN normal" (clear nail polish was placed near but not on the extrafloral nectaries allowing ambient production). AntCount is the average number of ants counted on the plants daily for seven days. Ltotal is the number of leaves on the plant. PLHerb is the proportion of leaves herbivorized after seven days of experimental treatment. The remaining columns are species of ants observed on plants over the seven day period, with "1" indicating they were observed at least once and "0" indicating they were not observed on the plant.