Download or read book Interactions Among Ant Species of the Auckland Region New Zealand written by Thomas Harry Gordon Goodman and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Globally, ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are a prominent part of terrestrial ecosystems, with high richness, abundance, and ecosystem function. The New Zealand ant fauna is characterised by poor species richness and is dominated by introduced species, however their ecology is poorly known. At the global as well as the local scale, a variety of abiotic and biotic variables are likely to influence species distribution patterns. This study investigates the role of habitat structure, temperature, and inter-specific competition on the assembly of ant communities within four different habitat types in the Auckland region. Two distinct ant communities were found in this study, one largely composed on endemic ant species occurring in forest habitat, the other largely composed of introduced species and occurring in non-forested areas. The local microclimate of these habitats was found to play a key role in the composition of these communities, with the cool environments of forest areas offering a refugia for endemic species, due to the apparent inability of introduced species to establish in these areas. New ant species continue to arrive at the New Zealand border. Competition appears to be of limited importance in New Zealand ant communities due to species not saturating the entire habitat that is available to them. The risk of invasive ants establishing in New Zealand is of serious economic and environmental concern, therefore the factors that determine species composition in current communities are of particular interest for predicting future invasions. The results of this study suggest that many future invaders will be unable to establish in forest habitats, however further research in these areas is required to better assess the risk of introduced ants to New Zealand ecosystems".
Download or read book Ant Plant Interactions written by Paulo S. Oliveira and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-17 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume devoted to anthropogenic effects on interactions between ants and flowering plants, considered major parts of terrestrial ecosystems.
Download or read book Ant plant interactions in Australia written by R.P. Buckley and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early research on ant-plant interactions in Australia was largely confined to the economically important problem of ants harvesting surface-sown pasture seed (e. g. Campbell 1966). The report by Berg (1975) of widespread myrmecochory in Australia, and a burst of overseas research, stimulated research on a range of ant-plant interactions in Australia. This book summarizes such research and presents reeent and current work on seed harvesting, myrmecochory, ant-epiphytes, extrafloral nectaries, ant-plant-homopteran systems, and the influence of vegetation on ant faunas. I hope that it will encourage further work in these and related areas, and that the review and bibliography of ant-plant interactions in the rest ofthe world will serve as a useful source for those entering the field. The richness of Australia's flora and ant fauna render it a particularly interesting continent for the study of interactions between them. As immediately apparent from the list of contents, ant-seed interactions are particularly significant in Australia. This is not surprising for a relatively dry continent bearing a largely sc1erophyllous plant cover. Future research, however, especially in the tropical north, is like1y to reveal further types of interaction, perhaps corresponding to those characteristic of the tropics elsewhere, or perhaps distinctively Australian. Some of the chapters have been shortened and modified considerably from the original manuscripts, but the ideas and results presented are, of course, those of the individual authors.
Download or read book The Distribution and Ecology of Invasive Ant Species in the Pacific Region written by Darren Francis Ward and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ants of New Zealand written by Warwick Don and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by the acknowledged expert, this first book on the subject identifies and describes both native and exotic species. Including notes on identification and collection of ants, it is illustrated throughout with diagrams and photographs, in colour and black and white.
Download or read book Ant Ecology written by Lori Lach and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The incredible global diversity of ants, and their important ecological roles, mean that we cannot ignore the significance of ants in ecological systems. Ant Ecology takes the reader on a journey of discovery from the beginnings of ants many hundreds of thousands of years ago, through to the makings of present day distributions.
Download or read book Ant plant Interactions written by Camilla R. Huxley and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents current research on all types of ant-plant interactions, and concentrates on understanding these often complex relationships in evolutionary and ecological terms. The range of interactions varies from herbivory (leaf-cutter ants) to complex symbiosis. Many ants prey on plant pests, thus protecting the plant from harm, receiving in exchange nectar and/or nest sites. In some cases the ants tend and protect other insects such as butterfly larvae or Homopterans (which include the aphids and cicadas) which may benefit the ants at the expense of both the host plant and the other insects. Some ants are known to be seed dispersers, and in at least one plant (cocoa) they appear to affect rates of pollination. A significant proportion of these interactions exhibit a high degree of mutualism, making this book part of a growing literature on the ecological determinants of mutualistic behaviour. The thirty-seven chapters by more than fifty contributors range in geographical coverage from northern and southern temperate zones, to the New World tropics, to Australia and South-east Asia. The emphasis throughout, even in the more descriptive chapters, is on possible explanations for observed phenomena. Workers in ecology, evolution, and behavior will welcome this compendium of information on a subject that has become a modern testing ground for evolutionary ecology.
Download or read book Guards and thieves written by N. Raine and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Interactions Between the Ants Linepithema Humile Tapinoma Sessile and Aphid Mutualists written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Invasive species have major impacts on the ecosystems they invade. Among the most disruptive groups of invasive species are ants. Invasive ants have caused losses in biodiversity among a wide range of taxa, including birds, mammals, lizards, but especially towards ground nesting arthropods such as native ants. Why native ants are so susceptible to invasion and how invasive ants are able to sustain massive population growth remain unclear. It has been suggested that invasive ants utilize carbohydrate resources from hemipteran exudates to fuel aggressive foraging and colony expansion. Perhaps invasive ants are simply more proficient at usurping these resources, maintaining higher hemipteran populations, etc. Our work uses a model invasive, the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, and a native ant Tapinoma sessile to quantify hemipteran tending ability and competition. Through a series of laboratory and field experiments we were able to quantify 1) carbohydrate sequestering performance, 2) the effect either ant species had on hemipteran population growth rates in a predator-free space, 3) the defense ability of either ant against hemipteran predators and parasitoids, and 4) the proportion of invasive ants required to displace a native colony from a hemipteran resource. Neither ant demonstrated a better ability to sequester liquid resources; however recruitment strategies were much different. Hemipteran populations in the presence of L. humile grew larger in a predator free environment and populations exposed to predators were better defended by L. humile than T. sessile. L. humile was able to displace T. sessile from a nest site without having a majority of worker ants. Aggression of either ant species was significantly reduced without hemipterans present. Understanding factors that drive invasive species can give us insight into native areas that may be susceptible for invasion, how potential mutualist populations might respond and possibly provide us with an avenue f.
Download or read book Interactions Between the Invasive Argentine Ant Linepithema Humile and Native Ant Species written by Kathleen Grace Human and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Consequences of Resource Environment for the Interactions Among Ants an Ant tended Herbivore and Its Host Plant written by Jennifer Lynn Apple and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Community Structure and Ecological Specialization in Plant ant Interactions written by Paola A. Barriga and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Positive associations among species have contributed to the maintenance of biodiversity. These interactions are typically studied in pairwise fashion where two interacting organisms are the focus. This dissertation uses network theory to analyze positive plant-ant associations in three Neotropical forests. Obligate plant-ant mutualisms were used, where plants host the ants in domatia and provide food bodies while the ants protect the plants and can feed them. A network approach was used to depict all obligate plant-ant interactions within a community. The main questions asked at the community level were: 1) Do network structure and levels of specialization change geographically and, 2) What is the level of resilience of these associations if plants become extinct? I found that network structure and levels of specialization in three forests do not vary and that these associations are not resilient to host plant loss. In a second project I explored if traits of plants that host ants change between lowland and pre-montane tropical forests and if the differences impact plant-ant associations. Stable isotope analyses of plants and ants, in addition to plant measurements such as specific leaf area, trichome number, nitrogen per area and leaf thickness, were used. Plant traits differed by locale and by plant species. Location, but not ant species, affected herbivory. Finally, I explored the influence of ant metamorphosis, fat body and diet on stable isotope measurements. Stable isotope analysis is commonly used in ecological studies to determine trophic structure. However, the physiology of organisms analyzed can influence the results obtained. Fire ant colonies were used to explore if metamorphosis, fat body extraction and diet type impact isotopic signatures. Laboratory reared fire ant colonies were maintained with cricket and a sucrose diet. The addition of tuna to the diet was tested on additional colonies. Ant fats were dissolved using hexane-isopropanol or 95% ethanol. Metamorphosis had a significant effect only on 15N and the availability of tuna produced further shifts in isotope ratios for all developmental stages. Treatment with organic solvents had no effect on 13C, but resulted in enriched d15N values.
Download or read book The Interactions Between Red Imported Fire Ant Solenopsis Invicta Buren Hymenoptera Formicidae and Potentially Competitive Ant Species Investigated Under Laboratory and Greenhouse Conditions written by Asha Rao and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ecology and Evolution of a Quadripartite Symbiosis Examining the Interactions Among Attine Ants Fungi and Actinomycetes written by C. R. Currie and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient and highly evolved mutualism between fungus-growing ants (Formicidae: Attini) and their fungi (Agaricales: mostly Lepiotaceae) is a textbook example of symbiosis. The ants carefully tend the fungus, which serves as the their main food source, and traditionally are believed to maintain the fungus free of microbial parasites. In this thesis, I conduct the first extensive examination of parasites attacking the fungus gardens of attine ants. I establish that the gardens are host to specialized and virulent parasitic fungi in the genus 'Escovopsis' (Ascomycota: anamorphic Hypocreales), which can completely overwhelm gardens. Persistent infections of this fungus also result in decreases in the growth rate of infected colonies. In addition, I establish a completely new and fundamental mechanism employed by the ants to maintain the health of their fungal cultivars: a mutualistic association with actinomycetes (a group of filamentous bacteria that are well-known for their ability to produce antibiotics). The actinomycete is present in all species of fungus-growing ants examined, and is carried upon regions of the ants' cuticle that appear to be both specialized and genus-specific. I also found the bacterium to be present on queens during their mating flight, indicating that it is primarily vertically transmitted between colonies. Bioassays failed to detect the production of any general antifungal metabolites by the ant-associated bacterium, but revealed that potent metabolites are produced that target ' Escovopsis'. Using a two-by-two factorial design experiment, crossing the presence/absence of actinomycete with the presence/absence of ' Escovopsis', I established that sub-colonies with the bacterium present were significantly more resistant to infections of 'Escovopsis' than those with the bacterium removed. It now appears that the attine symbiosis is a co-evolutionary 'arms race' between the garden parasite ' Escovopsis', on the one hand, and the tripartite association amongst the actinomycete, the ants, and the fungal mutualist on the other. The importance of both 'Escovopsis' and the actinomycete in this mutualism suggests that microbes may mediate the interactions occurring in other mutualisms and suggests that studying the highly evolved chemical interactions occurring within this symbiosis may provide valuable theoretical and practical insights for the discovery and use of antibiotics.
Download or read book Invasive Alien Species written by Michael R. Ielmini and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-04-21 with total page 1488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jedes Jahr breiten sich invasive gebietsfremde Arten in neue Ökosysteme aus. Die von den Eindringlingen verursachten Auswirkungen können sich in kürzester Zeit bemerkbar machen und verheerend sein. Das Thema der invasiven gebietsfremden Arten ist umfassend, komplex und auf verschiedenen Ebenen von globaler Bedeutung. Verschärft wird es durch die Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft und den zunehmenden Handel, durch den die natürlichen Barrieren für den Transfer von Arten durchbrochen werden. Invasive gebietsfremde Arten bedrohen die weltweite Nahrungsmittelversorgung, die Qualität und Verfügbarkeit von Trinkwasser sowie die Stromproduktion und -versorgung. Zusammen mit den zusätzlichen Risiken durch den globalen Klimawandel ist die weltweite Homogenisierung von Pflanzen, Tieren und Mikroben ein wesentlicher Faktor für den sich verschlechternden Gesundheitszustand der Ökosysteme und die nachlassenden Ökosystemdienstleistungen überall auf der Welt. Um dieser Entwicklung entgegenzuwirken, besteht die dringende Notwendigkeit einer einheitlichen Ausrichtung von Regierungen, Kulturen und Programmen und einer besseren grenzüberschreitenden Koordination. Nur so lassen sich die vielfältigen Bedrohungen durch invasive gebietsfremde Arten für die Umwelt, die Wirtschaft und die Gesundheit von Pflanzen und Tieren sowie insbesondere die menschliche Gesundheit effektiv bekämpfen. Dieses vierbändige Werk ist das erste, das einen umfassenden Satz nützlicher Materialien zu den zentralen Themen bereitstellt, um die gesamte globale Bedrohung durch invasive gebietsfremde Arten sowie die vielfältigen Probleme in verschiedenen Teilen der Welt deutlich zu machen, und es enthält Material, in dem potenziell replizierbare Lösungen zur Überwindung dieser Bedrohungen aufgezeigt werden. Das Werk betont die Bedrohung durch invasive gebietsfremde Arten auch im Sinne eines globalen ?Aufrufs zum Handeln?. Invasive Arten kennen keine Grenzen. Daher hoffen wir, dass wir durch die Zusammenstellung von Material, das unterschiedliche wissenschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Standpunkte aus aller Welt berücksichtigt, sowie durch die Vermittlung von Erkenntnissen und Beispielen zu einer Vielzahl damit zusammenhängender Themen das globale Bewusstsein stärken und einheitliche nationale Reaktionen auf die Bedrohung durch invasive gebietsfremde Arten fördern können.
Download or read book Chemical Ecology of a Neotropical Ant plant System written by Megan Elizabeth Frederickson and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Bibliography of New Zealand Terrestrial Invertebrates 1775 1985 and Guide to the Associated Information Retrieval Database BUGS written by G. W. Ramsay and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
