<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:contributor>Norman J. Scott Jr.</dc:contributor>
  <dc:creator>Patricia Mehlhop</dc:creator>
  <dc:date>1983</dc:date>
  <dc:description>&lt;ul class="rlist hanging"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;Temporal patterns of seed use were studied from late winter to autumn in three species of seed-harvesting ants in the Sonoran Desert. Measures of effective foraging activity, dietary niche breadth and dietary niche overlaps were obtained each month and were tested for correlation with estimates of the available seed resource.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;2&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seeds were the only numerically important type of food in the diets of all species.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;3&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;The ants partitioned the resource according to both seed species and seed size, although there was considerable overlap.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;4&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Pheidole xerophila&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;had the smallest forager body size and is a specialist on small seeds because it harvested them in greater proportion than their rank in the soils and expanded its diet to larger seeds only when the abundance of small seeds declined.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;5&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the abundance of the small seeds of&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Bouteloua barbata&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;decreased, the middle-sized ant,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;Veromessor pergandei&lt;/i&gt;, showed a decrease in foraging activity, increase in niche breadth, and a decrease in overlap with&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;P.xerophila.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;6&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seed size preferences of&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;V.pergandei&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;did not vary seasonally, except that during the month of highest seed abundance,&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;V.pergandei&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;showed no size preference.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;7&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Pogonomyrmex rugosus&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;was the largest ant; it preferred larger seeds and was inactive when small seeds were most abundant. Seasonal foraging activity and niche parameters were random in relation to seed abundance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;8&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;We suggest that nocturnal foraging by&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;P.rugosus&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;during the summer months was a response to interference with diurnal foraging by either predation frorn horned lizards or competition from&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;V.pergandei.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;span class="number"&gt;9&lt;/span&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seasonal abundance of small seeds explains most of the seasonal foraging patterns of&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;P.xerophila&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;V.pergandei.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;The summertime abundance of larger seeds during years of adequate precipitation may account for the seasonal activity patterns of&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;i&gt;P.rugosus.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;</dc:description>
  <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
  <dc:identifier>10.1111/j.1365-2311.1983.tb00484.x</dc:identifier>
  <dc:language>en</dc:language>
  <dc:publisher>Royal Entomological Society</dc:publisher>
  <dc:title>Temporal patterns of seed use and availability in a guild of desert ants</dc:title>
  <dc:type>article</dc:type>
</oai_dc:dc>