LTREB Collaborative Proposal: Large-scale removal of introduced ants as a test of community reassembly

将非本地物种引入生态系统是一种普遍的环境变化形式，其负面影响包括物种数量和种类的变化、生态系统服务受损以及在某些情况下本地物种的灭绝。然而，令人惊讶的是，关于生态系统在引进物种清除后恢复的能力的信息很少。特别是，只有少数研究物种入侵联合收割机结合长期的，入侵前的数据与入侵者清除实验在时间尺度上足够长，以确定本地物种组合是否完全恢复。该项目将研究阿根廷蚂蚁（一种常见的、分布广泛的、破坏生态的引进物种）被大规模清除后，当地蚂蚁群落的重组情况。在入侵者被清除后，研究人员将量化本地蚂蚁群落的遗传多样性、物种多样性和生态功能。需要采取多种办法，例如在此采用的办法，以进一步澄清生态系统从这类环境变化中恢复的速度和程度。与这项工作相关的更广泛的影响包括对加州大学圣地亚哥分校和加州大学伯克利分校博士生的研究支持，对来自加州州立大学、海峡群岛（一个为期四年的西班牙裔服务机构）的学生的本科生项目的研究经验，以及一个专注于了解入侵物种生态影响的高中外展项目。实验性地清除数量上占优势的引进物种，可以为研究群落重组提供前所未有的机会。入侵者清除实验可以揭示重组是如何影响一个给定的系统内的过程，或者，反映在更大的空间尺度上的过程。本研究的目标是量化的结构（遗传多样性，物种多样性）和功能（营养位置，生态功能）的组成部分，本地蚂蚁组合的恢复后，非本地阿根廷蚂蚁的规模去除。随着加州的圣克鲁斯岛的大规模根除治疗现已完成，该项目从现在开始将量化十年时间尺度上的本地蚂蚁重组。中心假设是，本地组合将恢复从入侵者删除，但只有当重组是在时间尺度上测量（1）是相称的生活史的焦点本地物种，（2）包括种间相互作用如何在组合形成过程中的变化。这项研究将提供一个前所未有的测试能力的本地组合，以恢复结构和功能后，入侵者清除，也产生新的信息的因素，控制的丰富性，组成和生态功能的一个重要的陆生动物组合。

The introduction of non-native species into ecosystems is a pervasive form of environmental change with negative impacts ranging from shifts in the number and types of species, compromised ecosystem services and, in some cases, extinction of native species. Surprisingly little information exists, however, regarding the capacity of ecological systems to recover after introduced species removal. In particular, only a handful of studies on species invasions combine long-term, pre-invasion data with invader-removal experiments over temporal scales long enough to determine whether or not native species assemblages fully recover. This project will examine the reassembly of native ant communities following the landscape-scale removal of the Argentine ant, a common, widespread and ecologically disruptive introduced species. Following invader removal, researchers will quantify recovery of native ant assemblages with respect to their genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecological function. Multiple approaches, such as those to be employed here, are required to further clarify the rate and extent to which ecosystems recover from this type of environmental change. Broader impacts related to this work include research support for PhD students from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, a research experience for undergraduates program for students from California State University, Channel Islands (a four-year Hispanic Serving Institution), and a high school outreach program focused on understanding ecological effects of invasive species. The experimental removal of numerically dominant, introduced species can provide unparalleled opportunities to examine community reassembly. Invader-removal experiments can shed light on how reassembly is influenced by processes acting within a given system or, alternatively, reflects processes acting at larger spatial scales. The objectives of this research are to quantify the structural (genetic diversity, species diversity) and functional (trophic position, ecological function) components of the recovery of native ant assemblages following landscape-scale removal of the non-native Argentine ant. With large-scale eradication treatments on Santa Cruz Island, California, now complete, the project from this point forward will quantify native ant reassembly over a decadal time scale. The central hypothesis is that native assemblages will recover from invader removal but only if reassembly is measured over temporal scales (1) that are commensurate with the life history of focal native species, and (2) that encompass how interspecific interactions change during assemblage formation. This research will provide an unprecedented test of the capacity for native assemblages to regain structure and function after invader removal and also yield novel information about the factors that control the richness, composition and ecological function of an important terrestrial animal assemblage.