Climate seasonality drives ant-plant-herbivore interactions via plant phenology in an extrafloral nectary-bearing plant community

Interactions between ants and plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) are among the most common mutualisms in Neotropical regions. Plants secrete extrafloral nectar, a carbohydrate-rich food that attracts ants, which in return protect plants against herbivores. This ant-plant mutualism is subjected to temporal variation, in which abiotic factors can drive the establishment and frequency of such mutualistic interaction. However, studies investigating how abiotic factors (e.g., climate) directly and indirectly influence ant-plant-herbivore interactions are incipient.
In this study, we investigated direct and indirect (via plant phenology) effects of temperature and rainfall on ant-plant-herbivore interactions. To address these goals, we estimated six plant phenophases (newly flushed leaves, fully-expanded leaves, deciduousness, floral buds, flowers, and fruits) monthly, the activity of EFNs and abundance of ants and herbivores in 18 EFN-bearing plant species growing in a markedly...