Native ants help to spread an invasive African grass in the Cerrado

Plant-animal interactions may facilitate biological invasions. The African grass Urochloa decumbens is an aggressive invader in the Cerrado. We demonstrate that native ants are dispersing the seeds to short distances, allowing the gradual spread of the invasive to sites without the need of great anthropogenic soil disturbances.

Methods
We retrieved seeds of the invasive African grass Urochloa decumbens from ant nests (N = 21) and paired-control plots found at three transects in a Cerrado. Seeds were inspected and classified as filled, damaged or empty. Filled seeds were further used in seed germination and seed viability trials.