Collaborative Research: Invasion Success of the Red Fire Ant: Role of Keystone Species and Competitive Interactions

合作研究：红火蚁的入侵成功：关键物种的作用和竞争相互作用

• 批准号: 9528005
• 负责人: Donald Feener
• 金额: $ 20.36万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-04-15 至 2000-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9528005&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Invasion; Success; Red

9528005 Feener Invasions of exotic ant species such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) occur frequently and often threaten the integrity of natural ecosystems in introduced ranges. Yet, the underlying ecological mechanisms that allow some invasions to succeed and others not have not been studied quantitatively. The research in this proposal is a collaborative effort between Brazilian and U.S. ecologists designed to test several hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of competitive dominance and invasion success of the red imported fire ant. Replicate plots will be established at three sites within the native range of S. invicta in southern Brazil. Experiments in these plots will assess the ability of S. invicta to dominate co-occurring ant species aggressively, both in the presence and absence of parasitic flies specialized on S. invicta. This will be the first time that the interactions between the red imported fire ant and other ant species have been examined in the native range of S. invicta. This study also will be the first time that the relative impact and synergistic interaction of competition and parasitism have been examined experimentally in ant communities This study will have immediate applied value. It will form the groundwork for future studies of the relative success of other invasive ant species in their native and introduced ranges. Moreover, the results of this study will provide a foundation for the development of effective biological control of the red imported fire ant in the southeastern United States, an area where it is having a devastating effect on biodiversity.

外来蚂蚁物种的入侵频繁发生，如红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta），经常威胁到引进地区自然生态系统的完整性。然而，允许某些入侵成功而其他入侵失败的潜在生态机制尚未得到定量研究。本提案中的研究是巴西和美国生态学家的合作成果，旨在测试有关红色进口火蚁竞争优势和入侵成功机制的几个假设。将在巴西南部invicta原生范围内的三个地点建立复制样地。在这些试验地进行的实验将评估在存在和不存在寄生蝇的情况下，invicta对共生蚁种的攻击性支配能力。这将是首次研究红火蚁与其他蚁种之间的相互作用。本研究也将首次在蚁群中实验研究竞争和寄生的相对影响和协同作用，具有直接的应用价值。这将为未来研究其他入侵蚂蚁物种在其原生和引进范围内的相对成功奠定基础。此外，本研究结果将为开发有效的生物防治美国东南部红火蚁提供基础，红火蚁对该地区的生物多样性造成破坏性影响。