Fungal-Fungal Interactions in Leaf-Cutting Ant Agriculture

Table 3

A review of studies that correlate plant physical characteristics with ant foraging preferences, with additional observations of whether these plant traits change as a result of plant-fungal interactions.

Plant physical traits	Correlation with ant host plant preferences (− repellant, + attractant, 0 neutral)	Fungal-induced changes in plants
Toughness	− [85–88], 0 [12, 49]	Pathogens and endophytes trigger lignification of plant cell walls [21, 41]
Water content “sappiness”	+ [45, 49, 85],	Not affected by pathogen
	− [89], 0 [12, 13]	infections [21]
Density	− [85]	Pathogens trigger increase of leaf fiber content [21]
Trichomes: length	− [13]
Latex	− [90]
Epiphyll community	− [91]