Limited ant co-occurrence and defensive mutualism in Acacia plants in a West African savanna

Our understanding of the role of fire and effect of ant species composition, beyond their diversity and abundance, on the effectiveness of mutualism defense is limited. Most of our knowledge of ant-plant defense in tropical Africa is biased toward East African savannas which have richer soil, higher primary productivity and a more diverse arthropods and mammal community than West African savannas. We assessed the diversity of ant species associated with Acacia species in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in the Dahomey Gap, and their impacts on elephant damage. Elephant damage, ant diversity and abundance were measured in stands of five Acacia species. Eleven ant species were identified in the Acacia stands. The composition of these ant communities varied across Acacia species. Pair of ant species co-occurred in only 2 % of sampled trees, suggesting a strong competitive exclusion. Within this annually burnt environment, ants were rare on small trees. The intensity of elephant-caused branch...