Ants in an Arid Urban Landscape: Biodiversity, Community Composition and Factors behind the Success of an Exotic Ant Species Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Bada, Javier Gerardo Miguelena Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 09/10/2021 09:08:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347164 1 ANTS IN AN ARID URBAN LANDSCAPE: BIODIVERSITY, COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND FACTORS BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF AN EXOTIC ANT SPECIES By Javier Gerardo Miguelena Bada ___________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the GRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM IN ENTOMOLOGY AND INSECT SCIENCE In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2014 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Javier G. Miguelena Bada, titled “Ants in an Arid Urban Landscape: Biodiversity, Community Composition and Factors behind the Success of an Exotic Ant Species” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Paul B. Baker _______________________________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Diana E. Wheeler _______________________________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Judith Bronstein _______________________________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Yves Carriere _______________________________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Anna Dornhaus Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: December 11, 2014 Dissertation Director: Paul B. Baker 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgment of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Javier G. Miguelena Bada 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The contribution of a large number of people made this work possible. I want to thank my advisor Dr. Paul Baker for giving me the opportunity to carry out this research. During my time working in this and other projects, he was always available to listen and help. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members: Judith Bronstein, Yves Carriere, Diana Wheeler and Anna Dornhaus. Their many suggestions and advice where fundamental to shape my thinking on the topics I covered in this dissertation. They also helped in shaping my understanding of the scientific process and the importance of ecological research. I also want to thank my family, including my parents Ana Maria and Javier and my siblings Ana and Luis. They provided me with motivation to continue working even when difficulties appeared. In particular, my mother was a powerful source of motivation in the last stages of the writing of this dissertation. Technical assistance was provided by a wonderful group of undergraduate students, without whose help I would have been unable to complete the field and laboratory aspects of this work. In this respect, I would like to thank Phil Labbe, Arianna Weisbly, Neil Champion, Andy Conboy, Kevin Dodd, Chris Blanco and Joshua Djakaria. I also want to thank Jon Neville for giving me a place to do a large portion of the laboratory work and for his help in discussing some of the ideas presented here. Similarly, I would like to thank Pedro Rodrigues for helpful discussions on ant research. I am also in debt to several organizations. The Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) funded the early years of my Ph.D. studies in Tucson. The Tucson Parks and Recreation Department and Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department were kind enough to allow me to perform research in their parks. Both the administrative personnel and the local park workers were open and enthusiastic about the research I carried out in the parks. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT BY THE AUTHOR……………………...…………………………………………………3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………..……………………………………………….4 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................................6 INTRODUCTION….……...……….............................................................................................................8 An explanation of the problem and review of the literature .............................................................8 An explanation of the dissertation format .......................................................................................10 PRESENT STUDY......................................................................................................................................12 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................................15 APPENDIX A - SPECIES-ENERGY RELATIONSHIP AND BIOTIC HOMOGENIZATION OF THE ANT ASSEMBLAGES IN MESIC AND XERIC ENVIRONMENTS WITHIN AN ARID URBAN LANDSCAPE .............................................................................................................................................16 Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................18 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................19 Methods ...........................................................................................................................................22 Results .............................................................................................................................................33 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................37 References .......................................................................................................................................45 APPENDIX B - CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ANT ASSEMBLAGES IN AN ARID CITY: FUNCTIONAL GROUPS, PEST SPECIES AND POTENTIAL FOR CONSERVATION……………………………………...............................................................................61 Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................63 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................64 Methods ...........................................................................................................................................67 Results .............................................................................................................................................72 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................76 References .......................................................................................................................................87 APPENDIX C - POLYDOMY AND INTRASPECIFIC AGGRESSION IN THE EXOTIC DARK ROVER ANT ( BRACHYMYRMEX PATAGONICUS )…..........................................................................107 Abstract .........................................................................................................................................109 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................109 Methods .........................................................................................................................................112 Results ...........................................................................................................................................117 Discussion .....................................................................................................................................120 References .....................................................................................................................................124