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

9528005外来蚂蚁物种，如红火蚁(Solenopsis Invicta)的外来入侵事件频繁发生，并经常威胁到引进范围内自然生态系统的完整性。然而，允许一些入侵成功和另一些入侵失败的潜在生态机制还没有得到定量研究。这项建议中的研究是巴西和美国生态学家的合作努力，旨在测试几个关于红色进口火蚁竞争优势和入侵成功的机制的假说。复制的地块将在巴西南部不列颠链霉菌原生范围内的三个地点建立。在这些地块中的实验将评估邀请链球菌侵略性地控制共生蚂蚁物种的能力，无论是否存在专门针对邀请链球菌的寄生苍蝇。这将是第一次研究红火蚁与其他蚂蚁物种在本地范围内的相互作用。这项研究也将是第一次在实验上考察竞争和寄生在蚂蚁群落中的相对影响和协同作用，这项研究将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，这项研究的结果将为在美国东南部开发有效的红火蚁生物防治提供基础，该地区正在对生物多样性造成毁灭性的影响。

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.