Invasive “crazy ants” are taking up areas where fire ants live across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. It’s the latest one in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere of the Earth and may prove to have varieties of influence on the ecosystem of the region.
The “ecologically dominant” crazy ants are dwindling diversity and abundance across a range of ant and arthropod species — but their spread can be limited and led if people are careful not to transport them inadvertently, according to Ed LeBrun, a research associate with the Texas invasive species research program at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in the College of Natural Sciences
The study by LeBrun and his colleagues was published in Biological Invasions recently.
“When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back,” said LeBrun. “Fire ants are in many ways very modest. They live in your yard not to go into your house. They form mounds and stay there, and they only get your noticed if you step on their mound.”
The UT researchers studied two crazy ant invasion sites in one of which the crazy ant population is denser than the other on the Texas Gulf Coast and found that in those areas where the Tawny crazy ant population is densest, fire ants were eliminated. In regions where the crazy ant population is less dense, fire ant populations were drastically reduced. Other ant species, particularly native species, were also found to be eliminated or diminished.
No comments:
Post a Comment