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Tramp Ants on Biodiversity in Australia and Its Territories

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Tramp Ants on Biodiversity in Australia and Its Territories THREAT ABATEMENT PLAN BACKGROUND DOCUMENT mpacts o the i f tra ce mp du a re nt o s T on b io d iv e r s it y in A u s t r a l i a a n d i t s t e r r i t o r i e s DESIGN DIRECTION 3736 BACKGROUND DOCUMENT for the THREAT ABATEMENT PLAN To reduce the impacts of tramp ants on biodiversity in Australia and its territories Department of the Environment and Heritage © Commonwealth of Australia 2006 ISBN 0 642 55246 0 Published 2006 This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries regarding reproduction should be addressed to: Assistant Secretary Natural Resource Management Policy Branch Department of the Environment and Heritage GPO Box 787 CANBERRA ACT 2601 This publication is available on the internet at: http:// www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/tap/ trampants For additional hard copies, please contact the Department of the Environment and Heritage, Community Information Unit at [email protected] or phone 1800 803 772. This plan should be cited as follows: Commonwealth of Australia. 2006. Background document for the threat abatement plan to reduce the impacts of tramp ants on biodiversity in Australia and its territories, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra. Front cover and sequential page photo: Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) – Steve Wilson. Note: This background document to the Threat abatement plan to reduce the impacts of tramp ants on biodiversity in Australia and its territories provides supporting information on a range of issues such as tramp ant biology, population dynamics, spread, biodiversity impacts and management measures. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Background and organisation 2 2.1 Background 2 2.2 Organisation 3 3. Characteristics and biology 4 3.1 The threat – tramp ants as invasive alien species 4 3.2 Invasive attributes 5 3.3 Factors predicting invasions 5 3.4 Impacts 6 4. Evaluating current management of the threat 7 4.1 Prevention of entry and spread 7 4.2 Preparedness for response 8 4.3 A general response framework 9 4.3.1 ‘Trigger’ phase 9 4.3.2 Scoping phase 10 4.3.3 Operational response phase 10 5. Developing a national and regional approach to management 12 5.1 Coordination and cooperation in a national approach 12 5.2 Coordination and cooperation within our region 13 5.3 Roles and responsibilities 13 5.4 Stakeholder participation 14 5.5 Building stewardship 14 5.6 Setting priorities 15 6. References 18 7. Glossary and abbreviations 22 8. Acknowledgements 25 9. Tables, Boxed Inserts, Appendices, 26 1. Introduction Invasive alien tramp ants are The tramp ant threat abatement plan establishes a diverse group of species a national framework to guide and coordinate originating from many regions Australia’s response to tramp ants, identifying of the globe which arrive at the research, management, and other actions Australia’s doorstep through a necessary to ensure the long-term survival of variety of transport pathways. native species and ecological communities They share genetic, behavioural, and affected by tramp ants. ecological attributes that infl uence their probability The goal of the plan is to minimise the impact of of entry, establishment and spread, ecological invasive tramp ants on biodiversity in Australia dominance, and high impact. and its territories by protecting threatened While their impacts on biodiversity in Australia native species and ecological communities, are not well quantifi ed, many tramp ants have the and preventing further species and ecological ability to affect Australia’s native biodiversity. Their communities from becoming threatened. impacts may be felt directly through predation The Department of the Environment and Heritage upon or competition with native animals, or will convene a National Implementation Team to indirectly by modifying habitat structure and assist and advise on the implementation of the altering ecosystem processes. Most tramp ants plan. The team will include people with expertise have multi-sectoral impacts, and can affect plant in the research and management of tramp ants. and animal health, social and cultural values, and It will also include stakeholders such as state and human health. territory agencies. The effective and appropriate management of threats from tramp ants poses a formidable challenge to Australia, testing the continuum of biosecurity, from pre-border surveillance through to pest management. Individual tramp ant species are at varying stages in the invasion process, so the nature and scale of management responses will vary accordingly. 1 2. Background and organisation 2.1 Background control program. In April 2003, the Minister for the Environment and Heritage approved listing The Environment Protection and Biodiversity RIFA as a key threatening process and approved Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) provides a the development of a threat abatement plan framework and mechanism for the listing of a key to address the key threatening process, and threatening process that affects biodiversity in tramp ant species more broadly. In April 2005, Australia and its territories. The process is initiated the Minister approved the listing of ‘Loss of by a written nomination of a key threatening biodiversity and ecosystem integrity following process, followed by public comment and invasion by the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis evaluation of the nomination by the Threatened gracilipes) on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean’ as a Species Scientifi c Committee, a panel of key threatening process. independent experts who make a recommendation At the same time as these developments, these to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage and other tramp ant species were emerging as on listing of the nominated key threatening threats elsewhere in Australia. Management process. responses have included eradication programs for If the Minister approves the listing, the Minister the African big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala, then identifi es whether to produce a threat BHA) and tropical fi re ant (Solenopsis geminata, abatement plan, which provides for research, TFA) in Kakadu National Park and an ongoing management, and other actions deemed attempt to eradicate a widespread YCA infestation necessary to reduce the impact of a key in east Arnhem Land. Recent incursions by threatening process on affected native species or several tramp ant species (eg YCA into northern ecological communities. New South Wales, Brisbane, and Cairns, and the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile, AA) in To satisfy the requirements of the EPBC Act Brisbane) have been followed by rapid responses the plan must, among other things, state (i) its to achieve eradication. objectives; (ii) criteria against which achievement is measured; and (iii) actions prescribed to achieve The threat abatement plan focuses on the the objectives (see Appendix A). production of a coordinated national approach to management, research, and education that The red imported fi re ant (Solenopsis invicta, increases awareness, prevents entry and spread, hereafter RIFA), discovered in Brisbane in 2001 provides early detection and diagnosis, and and the target of a national eradication program, provides rapid response to both incursions and was nominated in 2002 as a key threatening established populations of tramp ants. process under the EPBC Act. In 2003 another invasive tramp ant, the yellow crazy ant The purpose of a threat abatement plan is to (Anoplolepis gracilipes, YCA), was nominated as defi ne actions to mitigate the impact of a key a key threatening process on Christmas Island threatening process on affected native species and (Indian Ocean), an external territory of Australia, ecological communities. However, because almost where it is currently the subject of a large-scale all tramp ants have a range of impacts including 2 Figure 1. Stages in the invasion sequence of a species (after Kolar and Lodge 2000) Prevention Eradication Control 1234Ecological, Region of Survive in Establish in Spread in Economic, Social Origin Pathway New Habitat New Habitat Impact Integrated Response Framework Community Engagement on plant and animal health, social and cultural Each solid arrow represents a transition to the values, and human health, it is diffi cult to separate next stage (with an associated probability) and a actions (especially at early stages in the invasion decision point (1-4) for managers. Management process) that mitigate their impacts on biodiversity responses are in italics. from those that affect primary industry and social The threat abatement plan uses the major stages values. The plan focuses on actions to reduce the in the invasion sequence as its organising principle impacts of tramp ants on native biodiversity and for identifying and prescribing policy, management ecological communities, but many, if not all, of and research, and actions at the transition these actions are also likely to mitigate impacts on between stages (eg point 2, between survival in other sectors that are affected by tramp ants. the transport pathway and establishment in the new habitat). A species invasion can be seen as 2.2 Organisation of response a series of distinct phases, beginning with the transfer of a source population and ending with a An integrated framework for preparing for and species becoming established in an environment responding to invasive tramp ants must include to which it is alien. This new environment could be actions at several stages, and be consistent with at any geographic scale (eg a national park, a water generic frameworks for exotic pest incursions catchment, a state, a country, or a region). where management runs along a continuum from Actions taken at a given stage in the invasion pre-border preventative measures to eradication sequence aim to reduce the transition probability or control of established invaders, to monitoring as far as possible. Actions can be divided into and evaluating control activities (Figure 1).
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