Soil of the nest‐mound of the seed‐dispersing ant, Aphaenogaster longiceps, enhances seedling growth

Although a major benefit of myrmecochory in the Australian environment is believed to be the targeting of seeds to nutrient‐enriched ant nests, there is very little direct evidence for this. Here I report that, compared to control soil, soil from nest mounds of Aphaenogaster longiceps enhances the growth of seedling roots and shoots by about 50% in glasshouse trials. This benefit of nutrient‐enrichment, however, probably only occurs when seeds are dispersed by ants that construct large, long‐lived, nest mounds. This is very often not the case, and there is now increasing evidence that distance dispersal is often the major benefit of myrmecochory in Australia.