US-South Africa Dissertation Enhancement: Argentine Ants in the South African Fynbos: Effects on Proteas and Their Arthropod Visitors

0114923Root本论文强化拨款支持美国研究生Lori Lach女士在康奈尔大学生态与进化生物学系Richard Root教授的指导下，在南非进行一项关于南非fynbos中的阿根廷蚂蚁及其对蛋白质及其节肢动物访客的影响的研究。入侵物种不仅对农业和经济系统构成威胁，而且对本地动植物的保护也构成威胁。阿根廷蚂蚁是一个世界性的问题。在蛋白质丰富的南非芬波斯，本土蚂蚁和它们传播的种子正受到入侵的阿根廷蚂蚁的威胁。拉赫女士将通过实验来验证以下假设：1)入侵物种阿根廷蚂蚁对南非芬博斯生态脆弱地区的授粉有不利影响；2)兼性共生可能促进这种入侵者的影响；3)入侵者可能会产生这些影响，因为它能够逃脱花对本地蚂蚁物种的防御。开普敦大学（University of Cape Town）动物学系的迈克尔·皮克尔（Michael Picker）博士将为拉奇女士提供这个项目的指导。该研究结果有望增加人们对阿根廷蚂蚁及其对飞燕花及其节肢动物访问者的影响的认识，并为入侵物种对蚂蚁/植物相互作用的影响提供更多信息。研究结果在保护生物学和入侵生态学方面也具有广泛的应用价值。本项目由国际项目司和环境生物司共同资助。

0114923Root This dissertation enhancement grant supports a US graduate student, Ms. Lori Lach, working under the guidance of Professor Richard Root, with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, to conduct a study in South Africa on Argentine ants in the South African fynbos, and their effects on proteas and their arthropod visitors.Invasive species are a threat not only to agricultural and economic systems, but also to the conservation of native flora and fauna. Argentine ants in particular are a worldwide problem. In the protea-rich South African fynbos native ants and the seeds they disperse are being endangered by the invasive Argentine ant. Ms. Lach will experimentally test the hypotheses that: 1) an invasive species, the Argentine ant, has detrimental effects on pollination in the biologically fragile area of the South African fynbos; 2) that a facultative mutualism may facilitate impacts of this invader; and 3) that the invader may be exerting these effects because it is able to escape floral defenses used on the native ant species. Dr. Michael Picker, of the Zoology Department at the University of Cape Town, will provide guidance on this project to Ms. Lach. The results are expected to increase the current knowledge about Argentine ants and their impact on fynbos flowers and their arthropod visitors, and provide additional information on the effects of invasive species on ant/plant interactions. The findings should also have broad application to conservation biology and invasion ecology.This project is being jointly funded by the Division of International Programs and the Division of Environmental Biology.