Since the accidental introduction of red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren, RIFA) into Mobile, Alabama in the 1930s, the invasion of this species into other areas across the southeast has increased drastically. RIFA have been implicated in the disruption of ecosystems and decreases in biodiversity. Most research on effects of RIFA on vertebrates and invertebrates have focused on small spatial scales and single species. I examined established populations of RIFA in relation to native ground-dwelling arthropods and small mammal communities in longleaf-pine and pine-hardwood forests. I evaluated the efficacy of using Amdro® to control RIFA and determined the effect of RIFA predation on arthropod and small mammal communities. RIFA suppression occurred in April, August, and October 2003. In the longleaf-pine forest, RIFA suppression was effective in June between years (P = 0.088) and treatments (P = 0.093). This was consistent with an increase in cotton mice abundance on treated (17.7 ± 2.7) versus control (6.0 ± 2.5) plots (P = 0.035), with 90% of cotton mice captured during the June sampling period. Across seasons, significant differences were observed for Collembola in August between years (P = 0.001) and in December between treatments (P = 0.01). Likewise, abundance of Coleoptera was greater in December between years (P = 0.023) and in May between treatments (P = 0.002). In the pine-hardwood forest, RIFA suppression was effective in April and June (P = 0.001, P = 0.004, respectively) when compared across seasons. No significant differences were observed for any small mammal species captured in the pine-hardwood site. Acari were greater on treated (11.0 ± 1.7) than control (4.7 ± 1.9) plots (P = 0.067); however, no significant differences were observed for any invertebrate group across seasons. Although this study is in the initial phase of a 5-year project, the data suggests that RIFA may potentially affect the abundance of selected faunal species in forested ecosystems.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04142004-151850 |
| Date | 15 April 2004 |
| Creators | Landry, Keri Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Michael J. Chamberlain, Linda M. Hooper-Bui, Jim Chambers |
| 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-04142004-151850/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto 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, 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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