当前位置： SCI文献检索 > ECOLOGY期刊下所有文献 > Biotic and abiotic controls of Argentine ant invasion success at local and landscape scales.

Biotic and abiotic controls of Argentine ant invasion success at local and landscape scales.

Abstract：

:Although the ecological success of introduced species hinges on biotic interactions and physical conditions, few experimental studies--especially on animals--have simultaneously investigated the relative importance of both types of factors. The lack of such research may stem from the common assumption that native and introduced species exhibit similar environmental tolerances. Here we combine experimental and spatial modeling approaches (1) to determine the relative importance of biotic and abiotic controls of Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) invasion success, (2) to examine how the importance of these factors changes with spatial scale in southern California (USA), and (3) to assess how Argentine ants differ from native ants in their environmental tolerances. A factorial field experiment that combined native ant removal with irrigation revealed that Argentine ants failed to invade any dry plots (even those lacking native ants) but readily invaded all moist plots. Native ants slowed the spread of Argentine ants into irrigated plots but did not prevent invasion. In areas without Argentine ants, native ant species showed variable responses to irrigation. At the landscape scale, Argentine ant occurrence was positively correlated with minimum winter temperature (but not precipitation), whereas native ant diversity increased with precipitation and was negatively correlated with minimum winter temperature. These results are of interest for several reasons. First, they demonstrate that fine-scale differences in the physical environment can eclipse biotic resistance from native competitors in determining community susceptibility to invasion. Second, our results illustrate surprising complexities with respect to how the abiotic factors limiting invasion can change with spatial scale, and third, how native and invasive species can differ in their responses to the physical environment. Idiosyncratic and scale-dependent processes complicate attempts to forecast where introduced species will occur and how their range limits may shift as a result of climate change.

journal_name

Ecology

journal_title

Ecology

authors

Menke SB,Fisher RN,Jetz W,Holway DA

doi

10.1890/07-0122.1

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2007-12-01 00:00:00

pages

3164-73

issue

eissn

0012-9658

issn

1939-9170

journal_volume

pub_type

杂志文章

在线工具

Biotic and abiotic controls of Argentine ant invasion success at local and landscape scales.