Higher Ant Diversity in Native Vegetation Than in Stands of the Invasive Arundo, Arundo donax L., Along the Rio Grande Basin in Texas, USA

Our hypothesis was that there will be greater ant biodiversity in heterogeneous native vegetation compared with Arundo stands. Changes in ant biodiversity due to Arundo invasion may be one of the ecological changes in the landscape that facilitates the invasion of cattle fever ticks from Mexico wher...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of insect science 2017, Vol.9 (1), p.1179543317724756-1179543317724756
Main Authors: Osbrink, Weste LA, Goolsby, John A, Thomas, Don B, Mejorado, Alba, Showler, Allan T, Pérez De León, Adalberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Ant diversity
Arachnids
Arundo donax
Authorship
Biodiversity
Cattle
Community colleges
extrafloral nectaries
Fever
Indigenous species
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Peer review
Pitfall traps
Plant nectar
Prey
Quarantine
Species richness
Studies
Vegetation
Water conservation
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Summary:Our hypothesis was that there will be greater ant biodiversity in heterogeneous native vegetation compared with Arundo stands. Changes in ant biodiversity due to Arundo invasion may be one of the ecological changes in the landscape that facilitates the invasion of cattle fever ticks from Mexico where they are endemic. Ants collected in pitfall traps were identified and compared between native vegetation and stands of Arundo, Arundo donax L., monthly for a year at 10 locations. A total of 82 752 ants representing 28 genera and 76 species were collected. More ants were collected in the native vegetation which also had greater species richness and biological diversity than ants collected from Arundo stands. It is suggested that the greater heterogeneous nature of native vegetation provided greater and more predictable nourishment in the form of nectars and more abundant arthropod prey when compared with Arundo stands.
ISSN:1179-5433
1179-5433
DOI:10.1177/1179543317724756