Blog Post Image: Mutual benefits: Stressed-out trees boost sugary rewards to ant defenders

University of Michigan ecologist Elizabeth G. Pringle and her colleagues studied mutually beneficial interactions between Ecuador laurel trees and Azteca ants at 26 study sites in seasonally dry tropical forests along the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and Central America. The coastal sites span 1,426 miles, with annual precipitation increasing fourfold from the northernmost to the southernmost site. Additional work was conducted at three of the sites: Chamela, Huatulco and Santa Rosa. Image credit: Elizabeth G. Pringle (Click image to enlarge)