Dominance of a highly invasive ant is limited to the nesting territory of its supercolony
Data files
Oct 21, 2024 version files 53.91 KB
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pitfalls_datasheet_Chifflet_Calcaterra_2024.xlsx
52.52 KB
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README.md
1.39 KB
Abstract
Ant invasions represent a serious threat to biodiversity, agriculture and public health. Highly invasive ant species exhibit a very high abundance within its introduced range and cause severe impacts on native ant communities. This scenario tends to be different within the native range, where competitor ants may limit its access to food sources, thus its abundance.
Here, we evaluated the competitive ability of a typical clonal and supercolonial native population of Wasmannia auropunctata in Argentina. We used a combination of pitfall traps and food baits to study the ant interactions within an assemblage where W. auropunctata coexists with another great invader, Solenopsis invicta.
The studied assemblage presented 56 ant species/morphospecies. Although W. auropunctata was the most abundant numerically, its ability to discover baits was intermediate and its ability to recruit workers massively and monopolize baits was low. Wasmannia auropunctata was not successful defending baits nor attempting to usurp baits dominated by other species.
Moreover, it lost all contests against S. invicta, one of the most ecologically dominant species in this assemblage. Wasmannia auropunctata dominated food sources only when they were located within the nesting territory of its supercolony.
Within the native range, clonality and supercoloniality may favor the local numerical abundance of a highly invasive ant but may not be enough to achieve ecological dominance. This study sheds light on the important role of biotic interactions as a key factor that may limit the dispersal of invasive species.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bcc2fqzp0
Description of the data and file structure
A total of 126 pitfall traps were placed on the ground in the vegetation near the edge of a dirt road, around 10 meters apart to ensure their independence along linear transects in the field, near Loreto, Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Each trap consisted of a 50 ml plastic tube, 3 cm in diameter, with around 25 ml of water and a few drops of detergent to reduce surface tension and prevent ants from escaping. Each trap was buried at ground level, and after 48 hours the ants were separated and preserved in 96% alcohol for identification in the laboratory. All ants were identified to species or morphospecies with Kusnezov’s key (1978) and other keys for each genus available on AntWeb (https://www.antweb.org/). Reference specimens were deposited in the entomological collection of the FuEDEI, Hurlingham, Argentina.
Files and variables
File: pitfalls_datasheet_Chifflet_Calcaterra_2024.xlsx
Description:
Variables
In the first table:
- presence: 1
- absence: 0
In the second table:
- number of ants per species per pitfall trap
Code/software
You can open this data using Microsoft Office Excel
This dataset consists of two tables, the first one is a presence-absence (1/0) data set. The ants were collected in the field using pitfall traps. The second table shows the number of ants of each species in each pitfall trap.