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 40 young colony, young plant DHJanzen100122.jpg high resolution
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| As soon as the young stunted sapling (5-20 cm tall) gets an active colony established, the ants begin to vigorously patrol the plant shoot tip and within a few months of undamaged (by herbivores) growth, the young plant spurts many tens of cm upward. Both the colony and the biomass of the ant-acacia are experiencing almost exponential growth, with very little mortality and damage. This 1 m tall sapling has only had its ant colony about 3 months, and previously looked like the plant in image DHJanzen100120.jpg (and see image DHJanzen100123.jpg below). | ||
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