************************************************************************************ * * * ReadMe file accompanying data file for * * * * DISRUPTION OF FORAGING BY A DOMINANT INVASIVE ANT SPECIES TO DECREASE ITS * * * * COMPETITIVE ABILITY * * * * by Fabian Westermann (fabianwestermann@gmail.com) * * * ************************************************************************************ * * * This README file refers to the data reported in the manuscript "Disruption of * * foraging by a dominant invasive species to decrease its competitive ability" * * published in PLOS ONE. * * * * Authors: Fabian Ludwig Westermann, David Maxwell Suckling and Philip John Lester* * * * Data was collected by Fabian Ludwig Westermann. * * * * The experimental design is explained in the publication in the methods section * * with the same name as the datafile. * * * * This data is released to the public domain under Creative Commons Zero * * (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). * * * * * ************************************************************************************ * * * 1) The table "Resource Competition Experiment.csv" corresponds to the * * manuscript sections of the same name and contains the following columns: * * * * Replicate: * * The consecutive number of the replicate * * * * * * Location: * * GPS coordinates of this replicates location * * * * * * Date: * * The date when this experiment was conducted * * * * * * Competing Species: * * The species name of the ant found to compete with the Argentine ant * * (L. humile) at this baiting station * * * * * * Treatment: * * The synthetic pheromone concentration in this replicate with 100 µg/µl, * * 1 µg/µl, 0.01 µg/µl or 0 for the solvent control. * * * * * * Baits taken by L. humile: * * The number of food items (0-50) that had been carried over the edge of the * * bait card by L. humile workers in this replicate * * * * * * Baits taken by competing species: * * The number of food items (0-50) that had been carried over the edge of the * * bait card by the competing species' workers in this replicate * * * * * ************************************************************************************ * * * 2) The table "Behavioural Scoring.csv" corresponds to the manuscript sections * * of the same name and contains the following columns: * * * * * * Original Replicate Number: * * The consecutive number of the original replicate during which these * * observations were made, the corresponding replicate can be found in * * "Resource Competition Experiment.csv" * * * * * * Number: * * The consecutive observation number within each replicate * * * * * * Date: * * The date when this experiment was conducted * * * * * * Competing species: * * The species name of the ant found to compete with the Argentine ant (L. humile) * * at this baiting station * * * * * * Treatment: * * The synthetic pheromone concentration in this replicate with 100 µg/µl, * * 1 µg/µl, 0.01 µg/µl or 0 for the solvent control. * * * * * * Behaviour of L. humile: * * The behaviour displayed by the Argentine ant worker in this observation when * * encountering the worker of the competing species, described as a score from * * 0-4 with 0 = no interest or aggression; 1 = interest shown via antennation; * * 2 = ant retreats quickly; 3 = lunging, biting or leg-pulling, rising of gaster * * and exuding venom; 4 = prolonged (> 5 s) incidences of aggression, individuals * * locked together and fighting * * * * * * Behaviour of competing species: * * The behaviour displayed by the competing species worker in this observation * * when encountering the worker of the Argentine ant, described as a score from * * 0-4 with 0 = no interest or aggression; 1 = interest shown via antennation; * * 2 = ant retreats quickly; 3 = lunging, biting or leg-pulling, rising of gaster * * and exuding venom; 4 = prolonged (> 5 s) incidences of aggression, individuals * * locked together and fighting * * * * * * * ************************************************************************************ * February 2014 * ************************************************************************************