Ant invaders strand seeds without rides
By Susan Milius
Argentine ants crowding out native ones in South Africa are disrupting plants
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/10/714.jpg?resize=150%2C98&ssl=1)
there, too, by failing to disperse seeds.
The effects of Argentine ants make a great test case for the importance of mixed-species partnerships, or mutualisms, says Caroline E. Christian of the University
of California, Davis. Ecologists have worried for years that disrupting mutualisms
could start a cascade of misfortunes. However, Christian points out, experimental