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European Fire Ants on Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population Structure, Mechanisms of Competition and Community Impacts of Myrmica Rubra L

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European Fire Ants on Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population Structure, Mechanisms of Competition and Community Impacts of Myrmica Rubra L The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library 12-2004 European Fire Ants on Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population Structure, Mechanisms of Competition and Community Impacts of Myrmica Rubra L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Jeffrey Garnas Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Garnas, Jeffrey, "European Fire Ants on Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population Structure, Mechanisms of Competition and Community Impacts of Myrmica Rubra L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)" (2004). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 378. http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/378 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. EUROPEAN FIRE ANTS ON MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, MAINE: POPULATION STRUCTURE, NIECHANISMS OF COMPETITION AND COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF MYRMICA RUBRA L. (HYMENOPTERG: FORMICIDAE) by Jeffrey Garnas B.A. University of Colorado, 1997 A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Ecology and Environmental Sciences) The Graduate School The University of Maine December 2004 Advisory Committee: Eleanor Groden, Associate Professor of Entomology, Co-Advisor Francis A. Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology/Entomology, Co-Advisor Michael Kinnison, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences EUROPEAN FIRE ANTS ON MOUNT DESERT ISLAND, MAINE: POPULATION STRUCTURE, MECHANISMS OF COMPETITION AND COMMUNITY IMPACTS OF MYRMICA RUBRA L. (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) by Jeffrey Gamas Thesis Co-advisors: Dr. Eleanor Groden and Dr. Francis Drummond An Abstract of the Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Ecology and Environmental Sciences) December 2004 In the early to mid-201h century, Mvrmica rubra Latreille established in various communities in Maine, mostly along the coast. Since its establishment, the ant has spread both locally via vegetative colony budding and regionally via human commerce to no fewer than 30 Maine communities, including one inland site. Studies were undertaken in the summer of 2002 to address questions of the ants' population structure in its introduced range by testing for intercolony aggression within and between local infestations. Using captive nests maintained in their original nest soil, M. rubra was tested against its close neighbors, neighbors of lorn within the same infestation, and at two locations within a distinct infestation elsewhere on the island. Aggressive behaviors were quantified, and results suggest a multicolonial population structure, with ants tolerating their close neighbors (perhaps fragments of their own colony), showing measurable aggression toward their 1Om neighbors, and significantly more aggression again toward distant neighbors from which they were separated geographically at the outset. Pitfall and Berlese funnel sampling in four paired sites in Acadia National Park in 2002 showed little impact of M. rubra on the resident (non-ant) arthropod community, with the exception of a significant increase in isopod abundance. Impacts on the native ant fauna were severe, reflecting almost complete displacement and a significant reduction in species richness and diversity. Independent sampling of the homopteran community (tended by M. rubra and native ants for their honeydew exudates) showed an enhanced richness and abundance of several groups where M. rubra was present. Proportionally fewer homopterans were left untended within invaded habitat, suggesting that these insects are "ant-limited" and confirming our results that M. rubra may enhance such populations. Finally, a total of 27 aggression assays against nativelresident ants in Acadia National Park were performed in an attempt to quantify and characterize behavioral interactions between M. rubra and the native ant community. On average, M. rubra was able to quickly dominate the native foragers and displace them from baits, though some species were more adept at defense, generally by virtue of a well developed sting or chemical spray. A separate experiment testing discovery time and recruitment at the boundary of a local infestation showed that M. rubra foragers discover and recruit more quickly to a food resource. Taken together, these findings suggest that M, rubra, by virtue of its numerical dominance, has broken the "dominance-discovery" trade-off that serves to partition food resources, allowing native ant coexistence (Fellers, 1987). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to start by thanking the National Park Service for funding this research and to express my appreciation to David Manski, Bruce Connery and all the folks at the Acadia National Park who helped me and made me feel at home. Thanks of course to my advisors, Ellie Groden and Frank Drurnmond, for their shared ideas, patience, help and support. Also, thanks to Michael Kinnison for insightful questions, critiques and advice and for rallying the crew to the bar each week after seminar. Thanks to Andre Francoeur, Professeur CmQite UniversitC du QuCbec a Chicoutimi, and to Stefan Cover at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology for taxonomic keys, advice and specimen confirmations, and to Dr. Graham Elmes for his work, advice and inspiration. Thanks to Corena Dungey for being there, for tolerating a house full of bugs, books, twigs, seeds, leaves, flowers, papers and pebbles, etc., for listening to my rants, ecological or otherwise, and to some pretty bad guitar. Thanks to my Mom for everything, unsolicited pizza money notwithstanding. Thanks to all my friends and fellow graduate students for making my stay here that much more hn. Thanks finally to the Maine woods, its snow, its seasons and its people. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 11 . LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................vii ... LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 - Success of a new invader - Population structure and competitive displacement in Myrmica rubra-invaded habitat ............................... 1 CHAPTER 2 - Intercolony aggression within and between local populations of the invasive ant Myrmica rubra L ................................................ 17 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 17 MATERIALS AND METHODS ........................................................................... 23 Mobile nest establishment ................................................................................23 Experimental design ......................................................................................... 24 Aggression assay protocol ................................................................................. 26 Aggression score and maximum aggression ...................................................... 29 Aggression by distance assays ......................................................................... 30 Data treatment and analyses ............................................................................... 31 RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 33 Aggression score and behavioral tallies ............................................................ 33 Maximum aggression by assay location ............................................................35 Aggression by distance ...................................................................................... 36 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................ 37 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................45 CHAPTER 3 .Mechanisms of competitive displacement of native ant fauna by the European Fire ant (Myrmica rubra) in Acadia National Park. Maine ....................................................................................... 50 INTRODUCTION ..................................... ... ......................................................... 50 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...........................................................................53 Mobile nest establishment .............................................................................. 53 Assay protocols .baited arena assays .......................................................... 54 Assay protocols .aphid assays ..........................................................................55 Behavioral tallies ............................................................................................... 56 Aggression scores and data analysis ................................................................. 57 Discovery time experiment ................................................................................ 59 Overnight nativehnvasive ant survey ................................................................ 60 Data treatment and statistical analyses ............................................................ 61 RESULTS ........................ .. ...............................................................................
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