Impacts red imported fire ants (RIFA) exert on native faunal communities were monitored in two pine-dominated ecosystems in Louisiana. After suppression of established RIFA populations with Amdro®, cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus), herpetofaunal, ground-dwelling invertebrate, Lycosidae, and non-target ant communities were compared between untreated-control and treated plots with respect to possible ecological impacts of RIFA on these communities. Efficacy of Amdro® (A. I. 0.7% hydramethylnon) was tested at Alexander State Forest and Sandy Hollow WMA, and was found to be effective at both sites for 99-42.3% and 97-48%, respectively, suppression of RIFA on treated plots, for three to seven months, with treatments administered in the evening at a rate 1.68 kg/ha. Following suppression, RIFA were shown to minimally impact cotton mice, ground-dwelling invertebrate populations, and Lycosidae species, indicating that RIFA is not the regulating factor in these communities. In the case of cotton mice, habitat conditions that favor cotton mice may also favor RIFA. The majority of non-target ants analyzed at Alexander State Forest and Sandy Hollow WMA also seem to coexist with RIFA, although some species including Aphaenogaster rudis-texana, Crematogaster lineolata, Brachymrymex musculus, Paratrechina faisonensis, Pheidole dentata, and Pheidole metallescens may occur in sparse, small populations in the presence of RIFA. At Alexander State Forest, both Brachymrymex musculus and Tapinoma sessile showed a positive response to RIFA suppression, indicating signs of competitive release. At Sandy Hollow WMA Monomorium minimum and Prenolepis imparis responded negatively to treatment, indicating that Amdro® may exhibit non-target effects to these two species. Herpetofaunal communities, particularly ground skink and southeastern five-lined skink populations may be negatively impacted by RIFA. However sample sizes for all herpetofauna species were low. Amdro® is effective at suppressing RIFA populations in forested ecosystems; however the impacts RIFA pose on native ground-dwelling faunal communities may be minimal in these two pine-dominated communities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-03232006-072655 |
| Date | 23 March 2006 |
| Creators | Womack, Lee A. |
| Contributors | Chris Carlton, Michael Chamberlain, Linda Hooper-Bui |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-03232006-072655/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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