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06:48
Assessing Intertidal Populations of the Invasive European Green Crab
Published on: September 16, 2020
Community disassembly by an invasive species
Nathan J Sanders1, Nicholas J Gotelli, Nicole E Heller
1Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA. njs12@humboldt.edu
Summary
Invasive Argentine ants rapidly disrupt native ant communities, shifting them from structured to random. This invasion alters ecosystem function by changing species interactions and organization.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Invasive Species Biology
- Community Ecology
Background:
- Invasive species significantly threaten global biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
- The ecological impacts of invasive species extend beyond simple species loss, affecting community structure.
- Ant communities are crucial for ecosystem processes and can be vulnerable to invasion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of the invasive Argentine ant on native ant community structure.
- To document the temporal dynamics of native ant community disassembly following invasion.
- To understand how invasive species alter species co-occurrence and organization.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 7 years of ecological data from a northern California biological preserve.
- Compared native ant community structure in sites with and without Argentine ant invasion.
- Analyzed species segregation and co-occurrence patterns before and after invasion.
Main Results:
- Native ant communities in uninvaded sites showed significant species segregation, indicating competitive structuring.
- In invaded sites, native ant communities exhibited random or weakly aggregated species co-occurrence.
- The shift from a structured to a random community occurred rapidly, within one year of invasion.
Conclusions:
- Invasive species, like the Argentine ant, rapidly disassemble native communities.
- Invasions alter community organization, leading to non-random species interactions.
- The persistence of native species is affected by altered community structure post-invasion.
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