Non-native ants drive dramatic declines in animal community diversity: A meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Invasive Species Research

Background:

• Non-native ants are known to cause ecosystem changes, often assumed to be detrimental.
• Previous research has not holistically synthesized evidence to quantify the impact of non-native ants on native species diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform a meta-analysis on the effects of non-native ant invasions on animal communities.
• To quantify the impact of ant invasions on the abundance and richness of native animal taxa.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a meta-analysis using data from 46 published articles.
• Extracted data on animal abundance (156 effect sizes) and richness (53 effect sizes).
• Focused on locations with minimal other environmental stressors to isolate invasion effects.

Main Results:

• Non-native ants caused significant declines in local animal diversity.
• Species abundance decreased by 42.79% and richness by 53.56% in invaded areas.
• Overall community abundance and richness dropped by 52.67% and 53.47%, respectively.

Conclusions:

• Non-native ants are major drivers of negative ecological change, significantly reducing animal diversity in undisturbed ecosystems.
• These invasions approximately halve local species abundance and richness.
• There is an urgent need for improved global prevention, early detection, and control strategies for invasive ants.