Invasion of Polygyne Fire Ants Decimates Native Ants and Disrupts Arthropod Community

@article{Porter1990InvasionOP,
  title={Invasion of Polygyne Fire Ants Decimates Native Ants and Disrupts Arthropod Community},
  author={Sanford D. Porter and Dolores A. Savignano},
  journal={Ecology},
  year={1990},
  volume={71},
  pages={2095-2106}
}
The fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren invaded southeastern United States from South America >50 yr ago. Urban and agricultural consequences of this invasion are well documented; however, ecological effects are still poorly understood. Increasing frequencies of polygyne or multiple—queen fire ants in Texas and other areas of the Southeast are disturbing because nest densities of this new form are often ten times as great as those of the more familiar monogyne form. We studied the ecological… 

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LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF AN ARTHROPOD-COMMUNITY INVASION BY THE IMPORTED FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS INVICTA

The results of this study indicate that the impact of such invasive ants may be greatest during and shortly after the initial phase of an invasion.

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It is suggested that red imported fire ants are major intraguild predators of important beneficial arthropods in cotton.

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Experimental evidence that the introduced fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, does not competitively suppress co-occurring ants in a disturbed habitat.

The results are contrary to classical predictions and indicate that S. invicta is not a superior competitor that suppresses native ants, and that the low diversity and abundance of native ants in degraded ecosystems does not result from interaction with fire ants.

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This study is the first to document, through a controlled experiment, that clear-cutting alters ant species assemblages by increasing S. invicta and Pheidole spp.

Area-wide suppression of invasive fire ant Solenopsis spp. populations.

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The results suggest that the effects of S. invicta on native ant communities are pervasive: not only does the presence of the red imported fire ant reduce species density at local scales, it alters the co-occurrence patterns of surviving species at a biogeographic scale.

Abundance and Distribution of the Invasive Ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Cypress Savannas of North Carolina

Cypress savannas join a growing list of habitats, having wet sandy or loamy soils and little canopy, that have become invaded by S. invicta in the absence of anthropogenic soil disturbances and could have important direct and indirect effects on the native communities.
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