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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    In Florida study, nonnative leaf-litter ants are replacing native ants   
      
      
     Date:   
         April 7, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau   
     Summary:   
         A new look at decades of data from museum collections and surveys of   
         leaf-litter ants in Florida reveals a steady decline in native ants   
         and simultaneous increase in nonnative ants -- even in protected   
         natural areas of the state, researchers report.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A new look at decades of data from museum collections and surveys of   
   leaf- litter ants in Florida reveals a steady decline in native ants   
   and simultaneous increase in nonnative ants -- even in protected natural   
   areas of the state, researchers report.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   The study tracked leaf-litter ant abundance from 1965 to 2019. Nonnative   
   ants represented 30% of the 177 ground-dwelling species detected in   
   surveys across the state in later years, the team reports. Their dominance   
   grew most notably in southern Florida, where nonnatives increased from   
   43% to 73% over the decades studied. The nonnative ants are most likely   
   arriving with goods transported to Florida from around the world.   
      
   Reported in the journal Current Biology, the findings point to a potential   
   future devoid of native ants, the researchers said.   
      
   "Leaf-litter ants tend to be very small, just a few millimeters in length,   
   so moving through soil, leaves and other litter is like climbing over   
   hills for them," said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign evolution,   
   ecology and behavior professor Andrew Suarez, who led the research with   
   Douglas Booher, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of   
   Agriculture Forest Service; and Corrie Moreau, a professor of entomology   
   and of ecology and evolution at Cornell University. "Many of them are   
   small specialist predators, like trap-jaw ants of the genus Strumigenys,   
   which are solitary hunters that specialize in catching small arthropods   
   like springtails."  These ants rely on the litter that accumulates under   
   trees and other plants, Suarez said.   
      
   "These communities are sensitive to habitat loss, especially the loss   
   of canopy trees," he said. "They also are very susceptible to heat and   
   water stress, as they require humid environments."  While native and   
   nonnative leaf-litter ants share many traits and likely perform some   
   of the same ecosystem services, the science is still unsettled as to   
   whether the invasives will fill the same niches, the researchers said.   
      
   Future studies should examine whether certain ecological functions are   
   lost when native ants decline.   
      
   "Our biggest worry is that the loss of a few key species that act   
   as specialized predators or seed-dispersers could have ecological   
   consequences for these already threatened ecosystems," Booher said.   
      
   Native leaf-litter ants differ from the invaders in at least one   
   significant trait, the researchers found. The team tested how well the   
   ants tolerated sharing their nests with individuals of the same species   
   from other nests.   
      
   "We collected more than 300 live ant colonies and set them up in   
   artificial nests," Booher said. "By marking individuals of the same   
   species from different colonies and introducing them to one another, we   
   evaluated if workers from different colonies were adopted or excluded."   
   Most of the nonnative workers adopted conspecific worker ants from   
   different colonies, but most natives rejected the outsiders, the team   
   found.   
      
   This difference seems to give nonnative ants an advantage, Booher said. By   
   accepting and cooperating with ants from various nests, nonnative ants   
   "effectively act like a single unified colony over a large landscape,"   
   he said.   
      
   There are still many more native than nonnative leaf-litter ants in   
   Florida, but the nonnative ants "are becoming more abundant and common,"   
   Booher said.   
      
   "This concerning trend has increased steadily over the past 54   
   years. Across all regions of Florida, nonnative species have doubled   
   in collection frequency."  The research highlights the importance   
   of museum collections for understanding species diversity and loss,   
   Moreau said. "Only through comparing past species diversity and abundance   
   with current data can we really understand how biodiversity is changing   
   through time," she said.   
      
   "While we are starting to appreciate just how bad insect declines are   
   globally, we often don't have species-level data for many groups,"   
   Suarez said. "By looking at trends for individual species over long   
   periods, we can get an idea of the possible ecological consequences   
   of these patterns."  Suarez also is a professor of entomology and an   
   affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology   
   and the Carle R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the U. of I.   
      
   The National Science Foundation supported this research.   
      
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   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana-Champaign,_News_Bureau.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Douglas B. Booher, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Matthew P. Nelsen,   
      Leo Ohyama,   
         Mark Deyrup, Corrie S. Moreau, Andrew V. Suarez. Six   
         decades of museum collections reveal disruption of native ant   
         assemblages by introduced species. Current Biology, 2023; DOI:   
         10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.044   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230407110722.htm   
      
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