CRB: An Invasion by an Exotic Ant: Community Responses and Methods for Control

9610306案例 保护生物学中的一个重要问题是本地物种如何应对外来物种的干扰和入侵。 自从近100年前阿根廷蚂蚁（Linepithema humile）入侵加州以来，许多研究都在探讨阿根廷蚂蚁对加州的影响。对当地的蚂蚁群落感到谦卑 然而，这一变化对社会其他人的影响仍未得到研究。 初步研究表明，阿根廷蚂蚁在加州南部沿海的高地灌木丛栖息地（沿海鼠尾草灌木丛和chamise-chaparral）非常丰富。 海岸角蜥蜴是加州州的一种蚂蚁专家和敏感物种，在调查的小块地区没有发现，只在没有阿根廷蚂蚁的更大的完整地区发现。 这项研究将包括一系列的实验，以确定哪些因素促进阿根廷蚂蚁入侵自然栖息地，并衡量入侵对整个社区的各种营养水平的影响。 具体来说，研究人员将测试的假设，1）栖息地改造促进外来物种的入侵，2）阿根廷蚂蚁通过开发和干扰竞争不仅影响其他节肢动物，但脊椎动物以及3）本地蚂蚁社区将返回到入侵前的状态与阿根廷蚂蚁的彻底清除。 这些研究将为控制这种外来害虫提供资料，并有助于确定保护敏感生境和物种的管理准则。

9610306 Case An important issue in conservation biology is how native species respond to disturbance and invasions by exotic species. Since the invasion of California by the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) nearly 100 years ago, many studies have addressed the impact of L. humile on the native ant community. However, the implications of such a change on the rest of the community have still not been examined. Preliminary work has shown that the Argentine ant is extremely abundant in upland scrub habitats (coastal sage scrub and chamise-chaparral) in coastal southern California. The coastal horned lizard, an ant specialist and sensitive species for the state of California, was absent from the small fragments surveyed and only found in areas without the Argentine ant in larger unfragmented areas. This research will consist of a series of experiments to determine which factors facilitate the invasion of the Argentine ant in to natural habitats and measure the impact of the invasion on various trophic levels throughout the community. Specifically, the investigator will test the hypotheses that 1) habitat modification facilitates the invasion of an exotic species, 2) the Argentine ant through exploitation and interference competition affects not only other arthropods, but vertebrates as well and 3) the native ant community will return to a pre-invasion state with the thorough removal of Argentine ants. These studies will provide information for the control of this exotic pest as well as help determine management guidelines for the preservation of sensitive habitat and species therein.