Spatial dynamics of supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean

Key to the management of invasive species is an understanding of the scope of an invasion, the rate of proliferation and the rate at which invaded habitats become degraded. This study examines the spatial dynamics of high-density supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes , on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, and the associated impacts at their boundaries. Since the early 1990s, A. gracilipes supercolonies have occupied over 30% of the 10,000 ha of rainforest on Christmas Island. Thirty-four discrete high-density supercolonies formed between 1989 and 2003, ranging in size across nearly three orders of magnitude from 0.9 to 787 ha. Supercolonies boundaries are diffuse, and ants were observed in low densities in some cases up to 200 m from the main high-density supercolony. The 13 boundaries examined were all dynamic over a 10–20 observation month period: nine boundaries expanded, and the maximum rate of spread was 0.5 m day⁻¹. Across boundary transition zones, between high-density supercolonies and intact rainforest, yellow crazy ants reduced other ant species richness, occupied red crab burrows and killed resident red crabs, which was the trigger for 'invasional meltdown' on Christmas Island. The highly variable and unpredictable nature of A. gracilipes boundaries poses a challenge for incorporation into a predictive framework, as well as for their management.     

Supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on an oceanic island: Forager activity patterns, density and biomass

Summary. Ants have the capacity to reach unusually high densities, mostly in their introduced ranges. Numerical dominance is often cited as key to the ability of exotic ants to displace native ant species, reduce the abundance of invertebrates and negatively impact upon bird, land crab and other vertebrate populations. On Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, the yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Jerdon), forms supercolonies, where extremely high densities of foraging ants have contributed to ‘invasional meltdown’ in rainforest areas. Densities of up to 2254 foraging ants per m² and a biomass of 1.85 g per m² were recorded, and nest densities reached 10.5 nest entrances per m². Populations of A. gracilipes can overcome and kill red endemic land crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis) over 100 times their own biomass. This is the highest recorded density of foraging ants, and adds another element to the definition of ‘supercolony’ of unicolonial ants. This paper documents one extreme in a continuum of densities of unicolonial, invasive ant species and highlights the need to incorporate forager densities into invasive ant research.Received 17 November 2004; revised 14 February 2005, accepted 21 February 2005.     

Monopolization of litter processing by a dominant land crab on a tropical oceanic island

Litter processing by macroinvertebrates typically involves suites of species that act together to determine rates of breakdown and decomposition. However, tropical oceanic islands and coastal fringes on continents are often dominated by one or a few species of omnivorous land crabs that consume leaf litter. We used an exclusion experiment, together with other leaf removal and litter decomposition studies, to assess the role of a single dominant species, the red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis), in litter dynamics in rain forest on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. In the presence of red crabs, litter cover and biomass varied seasonally, from almost complete cover and high biomass at the end of the dry season to almost total absence of litter at the end of each wet season. When crabs were excluded from both the shaded understory and light gaps in rain forest, litter increased rapidly to almost complete cover, which was then maintained year round. Leaf tether experiments, and measures of litter input and standing crops, indicated that red crabs monopolize litter processing, removing between 39 and 87% of the annual leaf fall from the forest floor. Rates of litter turnover were over twice as high in the presence of land crabs: the decomposition constant, k, was 2.6 in the understory exclusion plots, but rose to 6.0 in the presence of crabs. Red crabs occur at biomass densities (114 g m⁻²) far greater than those reported elsewhere for entire litter faunas. They significantly reduced the abundance of other litter invertebrates, but we did not detect any change in the relative frequencies of the major invertebrate groups (mites, collembolans, pulmonate snails, ants, psocopterans, and spiders). Wherever omnivorous land crabs are abundant, their activities may be paramount in litter decomposition and in regulating the rate of nutrient cycling. In monopolizing litter processing, they may also be important physical “ecosystem engineers”, translocating organic matter and nutrients into the soil and reducing available habitat for other animals. Received: 19 August 1998 / Accepted: 11 January 1999     

The Effects of Invasive Ants on Prospective Ant Mutualists

Ants are recognized for their abilities both to engage in mutualistic interactions with diverse taxa, and to invade and dominate habitats outside their native geographic range. Here, we review the effects of invasive ants on three guilds of mutualists: ant-dispersed plants, ant-tended arthropods, and ant-tended plants. We contrast how those three guilds are affected by invasions, how invasive ants differ from native ants in their interactions with those guilds, and how the seven most invasive ant species differ amongst themselves in those interactions. Ant-dispersed plants typically suffer from interactions with invasive ants, a result we attribute to the small size of those ants relative to native seed-dispersing ants. Effects on the ant-tended arthropods and plants were more frequently positive or non-significant, although it is unclear how often these interactions are reciprocally beneficial. For example, invasive ants frequently attack the natural enemies of these prospective mutualists even in the absence of rewards, and may attack those prospective mutualists. Many studies address whether invasive ants provide some benefit to the partner, but few have asked how invasives rank within a hierarchy of prospective mutualists that includes other ant species. Because ant invasions typically result in the extirpation of native ants, this distinction is highly relevant to predicting and managing the effects of such invasions. Interspecific comparisons suggest that invasive ants are poorer partners of ant-dispersed plants than are most other ants, equally effective partners of ant-tended arthropods, and perhaps better partners of ant-tended plants. Last, we note that the invasive ant taxa differ amongst themselves in how they affect these three mutualist guilds, and in how frequently their interactions with prospective mutualists have been studied. The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, appears particularly likely to disrupt all three mutualistic interactions, relative to the other six invasive species included in this review.     

Non-additive benefit or cost? Disentangling the indirect effects that occur when plants bearing extrafloral nectaries and honeydew-producing insects share exotic ant mutualists

Background and Aims

In complex communities, organisms often form mutualisms with multiple different partners simultaneously. Non-additive effects may emerge among species linked by these positive interactions. Ants commonly participate in mutualisms with both honeydew-producing insects (HPI) and their extrafloral nectary (EFN)-bearing host plants. Consequently, HPI and EFN-bearing plants may experience non-additive benefits or costs when these groups co-occur. The outcomes of these interactions are likely to be influenced by variation in preferences among ants for honeydew vs. nectar. In this study, a test was made for non-additive effects on HPI and EFN-bearing plants resulting from sharing exotic ant guards. Preferences of the dominant exotic ant species for nectar vs. honeydew resources were also examined.

Methods

Ant access, HPI and nectar availability were manipulated on the EFN-bearing shrub, Morinda citrifolia, and ant and HPI abundances, herbivory and plant growth were assessed. Ant-tending behaviours toward HPI across an experimental gradient of nectar availability were also tracked in order to investigate mechanisms underlying ant responses.

Key Results

The dominant ant species, Anoplolepis gracilipes, differed from less invasive ants in response to multiple mutualists, with reductions in plot-wide abundances when nectar was reduced, but no response to HPI reduction. Conversely, at sites where A. gracilipes was absent or rare, abundances of less invasive ants increased when nectar was reduced, but declined when HPI were reduced. Non-additive benefits were found at sites dominated by A. gracilipes, but only for M. citrifolia plants. Responses of HPI at these sites supported predictions of the non-additive cost model. Interestingly, the opposite non-additive patterns emerged at sites dominated by other ants.

Conclusions

It was demonstrated that strong non-additive benefits and costs can both occur when a plant and herbivore share mutualist partners. These findings suggest that broadening the community context of mutualism studies can reveal important non-additive effects and increase understanding of the dynamics of species interactions.     

The role of the soil seed bank in vegetation recovery on an oceanic island severely damaged by introduced goats

Question: Are the seed banks of an isolated subtropical oceanic island capable of naturally regenerating vegetation either with species of the historical forest community or with the existing grassland community after severe damage to the vegetation by goats? Location: Nakoudojima Island, Bonin Archipelago (Ogasawara Shoto), Japan. Methods: Soil samples were collected at 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm depths from seven plots in forests, grasslands, artificially matted areas and bare land. Soil seed banks were assessed using the seedling emergence method followed by the hand‐sorting of ungerminated seeds. We determined the size and composition of the seed banks in upper soil layers of plots and compared the seed banks to the standing vegetation. Results: A total of 12 220 seedlings belonging to 42 species from 20 families germinated. Total mean seed density (0–5 cm depth) was low in all plots within forest, grassland, and heavily degraded vegetation types (34.7 ± 8.6 to 693.5 ± 123.6, 58.6 ± 7.8 to 107.1 ± 10.0, and 1.1 ± 0.5 to 7.2 ± 2.3 seeds/m², respectively). Forbs and graminoids dominated the seed banks of grassland and forest plots including Cyperus brevifolius, Gnaphalium pensylvanicum, Oxalis corniculata and Solanum nigrum, and these alien species comprised 90% of the density of the seed bank. There was little correlation between seed banks and standing vegetation of the island (Sørensen similarity coefficient values 0.26 to 0.45). Conclusions: If natural regeneration occurs from the seed bank of the island, future vegetation will not move toward the original forest community, because the seed bank is dominated by non‐native herbaceous grassland species. Though isolated, a few forest remnants with low species richness could be an important source for the natural re‐establishment of forest on the island; however, seed availability may be limited by either poor dispersal or pollination so that woody species will probably recover very slowly on this goat‐impacted island.     

Effects of Patch Size and Floral Herbivory on Seed Set in Trichogoniopsis adenantha (Asteraceae) in Southeastern Brazil1

The effects of patch size and floral herbivory on reproductive success of Trichogoniopsis adenantha (Asteraceae) were studied in a semideciduous forest in southeastern Brazil. Plants in large patches and capitula not attacked by endophagous insects had higher seed set. The consequences of living in large or small patches for plant reproductive success are discussed.     

Influence of invasion history on rapid morphological divergence across island populations of an exotic bird

There is increasing evidence that exotic populations may rapidly differentiate from those in their native range and that differences also arise among populations within the exotic range. Using morphological and DNA‐based analyses, we document the extent of trait divergence among native North American and exotic Hawaiian populations of northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Furthermore, using a combination of historical records and DNA‐based analyses, we evaluate the role of founder effects in producing observed trait differences. We measured and compared key morphological traits across northern cardinal populations in the native and exotic ranges to assess whether trait divergence across the Hawaiian Islands, where this species was introduced between 1929 and 1931, reflected observed variation across native phylogeographic clades in its native North America. We used and added to prior phylogenetic analyses based on a mitochondrial locus to identify the most likely native source clade(s) for the Hawaiian cardinal populations. We then used Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) to evaluate the role of founder effects in producing the observed differences in body size and bill morphology across native and exotic populations. We found cardinal populations on the Hawaiian Islands had morphological traits that diverged substantially across islands and overlapped the trait space of all measured native North American clades. The phylogeographic analysis identified the eastern North American clade (C. cardinalis cardinalis) as the most likely and sole native source for all the Hawaiian cardinal populations. The ABC analyses supported written accounts of the cardinal's introduction that indicate the original 300 cardinals shipped to Hawaii were simultaneously and evenly released across Hawaii, Kauai, and Oahu. Populations on each island likely experienced bottlenecks followed by expansion, with cardinals from the island of Hawaii eventually colonizing Maui unaided. Overall, our results suggest that founder effects had limited impact on morphological trait divergence of exotic cardinal populations in the Hawaiian archipelago, which instead reflect postintroduction events.     

基于无人机航测的漯河市土地利用景观格局尺度效应

景观格局的尺度效应一直是景观生态学研究的核心内容,对于揭示景观空间格局变化规律及其生态过程具有重要意义。以漯河市中心城区为研究对象,基于景观生态学原理,采用无人机航测技术获取空间分辨率为0.09 m的无人机影像,结合GIS空间分析法,量化分析了漯河市土地利用景观格局的尺度效应。结果表明:(1)漯河市中心城区土地利用景观格局具有明显的粒度和幅度效应。(2)粒度越小,景观格局指数随空间粒度的变化趋势越稳定,其表达的生态过程越真实;景观水平上景观格局的粒度效应是由建筑、道路和绿地景观在景观优势度、破碎度和聚集度等方面的变化导致的;35 m和3 m分别为研究粒度效应的临界阈值和最佳粒度。(3)景观优势度、破碎度和蔓延度随空间幅度的增加而降低,景观复杂程度和聚集度随空间幅度的增加而增加;景观格局具有明显的空间梯度分布特征——从市中心往外由不透水地面向透水地面过渡;建筑和道路在城市中心区聚集度较高,而绿地景观在城市内部破碎度较高,进而主导了整体景观格局的梯度变化;景观组分的稳定与城市规模有关。(4)无人机航测技术可以更快速、准确地获取城市尺度上的景观生态信息,揭示景观格局对尺度效应的响应特征,可为景观格局优化和城乡景观规划提供科学依据。