Ant composition and competitive interactions with Wasmannia auropunctata in Tropical Dry Forest fragments
Main Article Content
Disturbance increases the probability of dominance by the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), an indicator species of low diversity ant communities in Tropical Dry Forest fragments of the Cauca River Valley (Colombia). In order to study interactions of interspecific competition involving this species, we conducted experiments with soil-surface tuna-baits at four localities: Alejandría, El Medio, El Vínculo and San Julián. Three biotopes were distinguished at each locality: forest interior, forest margin and their surrounding matrices (sugar cane or pasture). Based on information obtained from the composition of ants at the baits, competition ability indices were calculated. Attraction to the baits was 91%, for a total of 66 species in 30 genera. Species composition was mainly influenced by locality conditions. The myrmicines Pheidole, Solenopsis and Crematogaster had the greatest interaction with W. auropunctata and partitioning of the baits was mostly influenced by biotope. Bait use by other species was determined by the abundance of W. auropunctata; if the bait had more than a mean of 500 workers, the resource was not shared. W. auropunctata emerged as the dominant species in the upper Cauca River watershed and this was mainly accomplished by exploitation competition, allowing the ants to rapidly take advantage of resources by recruiting a large number of workers.
ÁLVAREZ, M.; ESCOBAR, F.; GAST, F.; MENDOZA, H.; REPIZZO, A.; VILLAREAL, H. 1998. Bosque seco Tropical. p. 56–72. En: Chávez, M. E.; Arango, N. (eds.). Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Informe nacional sobre el estado de la biodiversidad 1997. Colombia. Instituto Humboldt, PNUMA. Vol. 3. Ministerio del medio Ambiente. Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia.
ARMBRECHT, I.; CHACÓN DE ULLOA, P. 1997a. Efectividad de cebos de atún para monitoreos de hormigas en fragmentos de Bosque Seco Tropical. En: Resúmenes XXIV Sociedad Colombiana de Entomología (Socolen). Julio 16-18 de 1997. Hotel Meliá, Pereira-Colombia. 122 p.
ARMBRECHT, I.; CHACÓN DE ULLOA, P. 1997b. Composición y diversidad de hormigas en bosques secos relictuales y sus alrededores, en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Revista Colombiana de Entomología 23 (1-2): 45-50.
ARMBRECHT, I.; ULLOA-CHACÓN, P. 1999. Rareza y diversidad de hormigas en fragmentos de Bosque Seco Colombianos y sus matrices. Biotropica 31 (4): 646-653.
ARMBRECHT, I.; ULLOA-CHACÓN, P. 2003. The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a diversity indicator of ants in Tropical Dry Forest fragments of Colombia. Environmental Entomology 32 (3): 542-547.
BESTELMEYER, B. T.; AGOSTI, D.; ALONSO, L. E.; BRANDAO, C. R. F.; BROWN JR, W. L.; DELABIE, J. H. C.; SILVESTRE, R. 2000. Field techniques for the study of ground-dwelling ants, pp. 122-144. En: Agosti, D.; Majer, J. D.; Alonso, L. E.; Schultz, T. R. (eds.). Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. The Smithsonian Institution. EE.UU.
BRANDÃO, C. R. F.; SILVA, R. R. 2006. Synecology of Wasmannia auropunctata, an invasive ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in continuous and fragmented areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, pp. 141-151. En: Paine, T. D. (ed). Invasive Forest Insects, Introduced Forest Trees and Altered Ecosystems. Dordrecht: Springer.
CHACÓN DE ULLOA, P. 2003. Biología reproductiva de Wasmannia auropunctata (R.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias 27 (104): 441-447.
CHACÓN DE ULLOA, P.; ARMBRECHT, I. 2006. Las hormigas del Bosque Seco Tropical, pp. 345-351. En: Chávez, M. E.; Santamaría, M. (eds.). Informe sobre el avance en el conocimiento y la información de la biodiversidad 1998-2004. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Bogotá D.C. Colombia.
CLARK, D. B.; GUAYASAMÍN, C.; PAZMIÑO, O.; DONOSO, C.; PÁEZ DE VILLACÍS, Y. 1982. The tramp ant Wasmannia auropunctata: Autoecology and effects on ant diversity and distribution on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos. Biotropica 14 (3):
-207.
DAVIDSON, D. W. 1998. Resource discovery versus resource domination in ants: a functional mechanism for breaking the tradeoff. Ecological Entomology 23 (4): 484-490.
DELABIE, J. H. C.; DA ENCARNAÇAO, A. M. V.; CAZORLA, I. M. 1994. Relations between the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, and its associated Mealybug, Planococcus citri, in Brazilian Cocoa farms, pp. 91-103. En: Williams, D. F. (ed.). Exotic Ants Biology, Impact and Control of Introduced Species. Westview Studies in insect Biology. Boulder. Colorado.
DELABIE, J. H. C.; FISHER, B. L.; MAJER, J. D.; WRIGHT, I. W. 2000. Sampling effort and choice of methods, pp. 145-154. En: Agosti, D.; Majer, J. D.; Alonso, L. E.; Schultz, T. R. (eds.). Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. The Smithsonian Institution. EE.UU.
FORYS, E. A.; ALLEN, C. R.; WOJCIK, D. P. 2002. Influence of the proximity and amount of human development and roads on the occurrence of the red imported fire ant in the lower Florida Keys. Biological Conservation 108 (1): 27-33.
GREENSLADE, P.; GREENSLADE, P. J. M. 1971. The use of baits and preservatives in pitfall traps. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 10: 253-260.
HÖLLDOBLER, B.; WILSON, E. O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge. Massachusetts. Harvard University Press. 732 p.
HOLWAY, D. A.; CASE, T. J. 2001. Effects of colony-level variation on competitive ability in the invasive Argentine ant. Animal Behaviour 61 (6): 1181-1192.
LE BRETON, J.; JOURDAN, H.; CHAZEAU, J.; ORIVEL, J.; DEJEAN, A. 2005. Niche opportunity and antiInvasion: The case of Wasmannia auropunctata in a New Caledonian Rain Forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 21: 93-98.
LONGINO, J. T. 2003. Ants of Costa Rica. <http://www.evergreen.edu/ants/AntsofCostaRica.html>. Fecha última revisión: 10 enero 2007. Fecha último acceso: [1 diciembre 2007].
LÓPEZ, M. P. 2005. Composición, densidad y agresividad intracolonial de Wasmannia auropunctata (R.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en fragmentos de Bosque seco Tropical y sus matrices. Trabajo de Grado en Biología. Cali-Colombia. Universidad del Valle. Facultad de Ciencias. 55 p.
LOZANO, F. H. 2002. Estimación de la riqueza de hormigas y relaciones especie–área en fragmentos de Bosque seco Tropical en Colombia. Tesis de Maestría en Ciencias-Biología. Cali-Colombia. Universidad del Valle. Facultad de Ciencias. 86 p.
MACK, R. N.; SIMBERLOFF, D.; LONSDALE, W. M.; EVANS, H.; CLOUT, M.; BAZZAZ, F. A. 2000. Biotic invasions: Causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecological Applications 10 (3): 689-710.
McCUNE, B.; GRACE, J. B. 2002. Analysis of Ecologica Communities. MjM Software Design. Gleneden Beach. Oregon. USA.
McCUNE, B.; MEFFORD, M. J. 1999. PC-ORD. Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data. Version 4. MjM Software Design. Gleneden Beach. Oregon. USA.
MEIER, R. E. 1994. Coexisting patterns and foraging behavior of introduced and native ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), pp. 44-62. En: Williams, D. F. (ed.). Exotic Ants Biology, Impact, and Control of Introduced Species. Westview Studies in insect Biology. Boulder. Colorado
MORRISON, L. W. 2002. Long-term impacts of an arthropodcommunity invasion by the imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. Ecology 83 (8): 2337-2345.
PALACIO, E. E.; FERNÁNDEZ, F. 2003. Clave para las subfamilias y géneros, pp. 233-260. En: Fernández, F. (ed.). Introducción a las hormigas de la región neotropical. Instituto de Investigación de recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Bogotá, Colombia.
PASSERA, L. 1994. Characteristics of tramp species, pp. 23-43. En: Williams, D. F. (ed.). Exotic Ants Biology, Impact, and Control of Introduced Species. Westview Studies in insect Biology. Boulder. Colorado.
PAUCHARD, A.; ALABACK, P. B. 2006. Edge type defines alien plant species invasions along Pinus contorta burned, highway and clearcut forest edges. Forest Ecology and Management 223 (1-3): 327-335.
PORTER, S. D.; SAVIGNANO, D. A. 1990. Invasion of polygyne fire ants decimates native ants and disrupts arthropod community. Ecology 71 (6): 2095-2106.
POSADA, L.; ZENNER DE POLANÍA, I.; DE AREVALO, I. S.; SALDARRIAGA, A.; GARCÍA, F.; CÁRDENAS, R. 1976. Lista de insectos dañinos y otras plagas en Colombia. Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario. Boletín Técnico 43. 97 p.
RAMÍREZ, J. M. 2001. Evaluación de métodos de captura para muestreos de hormigas en fragmentos de Bosque seco Tropical. Trabajo de Grado en Biología. Cali-Colombia. Universidad del Valle. Facultad de Ciencias. 73 p.
STATSOFT, INC. 1998. Statistica for Windows [Computer Program Manual]. Tulsa. USA.
SUÁREZ, A. V.; BOLGER, D. T.; CASE, T. J. 1998. Effects of fragmentation and invasion on native ant communities in Coastal Southern California. Ecology 79 (6): 2041-2056.
TENNANT, L. 1994. The ecology of Wasmannia auropunctata in primary Tropical Rainforest in Costa Rica and Panama, pp. 80-90. En: Williams, D. F. (ed.). Exotic Ants biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Studies in insect Biology. Boulder. Colorado.
ULLOA-CHACÓN, P.; CHERIX, D. 1990. The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (R.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), pp. 281-289. En: Vandermeer, R. K.; Jaffe, K.; Cedeño, A. (eds.). Applied Myrmecology: a World Perspective. Westview Press. Boulder. Colorado.
VON AESCH, L.; CHERIX, D. 2005 Introduced ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and mechanisms of competition on Floreana Island (Galápagos, Ecuador). Sociobiology 45 (2): 463-481.
WALSH, P. D.; HENSCHEL, P.; ABERNETHY, K. A.; TUTIN, C. E. G.; TELFER, P.; LAHM, S. A. 2004. Logging speeds little red fire ant invasion of Africa. Biotropica 36 (4): 637-641.
WILSON, E. O. 1971. The Insect Societies. Cambridge, Mass. Belknap Press, Harvard Univ. Press. 548 p.
ZAR, J. H.1996. BiostatisticalAnalysis. Third edition. Prentice Hall. New Jersey. USA. 662 p.
ZIMMERMAN, G. M.; GOETZ, H.; MIELKE Jr, P. W. 1985. Use of an improved statistical method for group comparisons to study effects for prairie fire. Ecology 66 (2): 606-611.
- RAÚL LEONARDO ROCHA, PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, LUIS GERMÁN NARANJO, Diversity of diets in insectivorous birds in the rainy forest of the Colombian Pacific , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 22 No. 3 (1996)
- MARTHA ROJAS DE HERNÁNDEZ, PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, ADOLFO TROCHEZ, EVALUATION OF HYDROLYZED CORN PROTEIN FOR CAPTURE OF Lonchaea cristula (Diptera: Lonchaeidae) PEST OF PASSION FRUIT IN THE CAUCA VALLEY , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 11 No. 2 (1985)
- WILLIAM CARDONA, PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, GUSTAVO KATTAN, Non-pollinating fig wasps associated with Ficus andicola (Moraceae) in the Central Andes of Colombia , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 33 No. 2 (2007)
- GLORIA ISABEL JARAMILLO-R., PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, The ghost ant Tapínoma melanocephalum (Hym: Formicidae): queen fecundity and development of experimental colonies , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 29 No. 2 (2003)
- LUZ ADRIANA OLAYA-MÁSMELA, PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, ANDREY PAYÁN, Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in hospital centers of Valle del Cauca as vectors of nosocomial pathogens , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 31 No. 2 (2005)
- MARTHA ROJAS DE HERNÁNDEZ, PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, Aepytus (Pseudolaca) serta (Schaus) CURUBA STEM BLOWER , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 6 No. 3-4 (1980)
- PATRICIA CHACÓN DE ULLOA, MARTHA L. BAENA, ROSA C. ALDANA, Effects of two juvenile hormone analogues, fenoxycarb and merhoprene, on the ant Paratrechina fulva (Mayr) , Revista Colombiana de Entomología: Vol. 20 No. 3 (1994)
Authors retain the copyright on their work and are responsible for the ideas expressed in them. Once a manuscript is approved for publication, authors are asked for a publication license for the term of legal protection, for all territories that allows the use, dissemination and disclosure of the same.