Abstract
Invasive species are known to exhibit boom and bust cycles. We report population declines of one of the world’s most serious ant invaders, Anoplolepis gracilipes (Smith) (yellow crazy ant) in Arnhem Land, Australia. Anoplolepis gracilipes populations are known to fluctuate, both spatially and temporally, but this is the first instance of quantitative monitoring of spatial declines of entire populations. We present before and after survey data on seven populations that have either declined substantially or disappeared completely without human intervention. Sites ranged in size from 1.8 to 15 ha. Although the mechanistic cause of these declines remains unknown, A. gracilipes populations in Arnhem Land represent a unique opportunity to investigate mechanisms by which a globally significant invader declines, which could have important implications for invasive species management worldwide.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the many people that provided technical assistance, especially Daryl Lacey, Jon Edgar, Balupalu Yunupingu, Arian Pearson, Tony Schultz and the many people involved with Conservation Volunteers Australia. Thanks to Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation and the traditional landowners of northeast Arnhem Land for access to the region, and the staff of Rio Tinto for access to the mining leases and accommodation. We thank Pete Green and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments.
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Cooling, M., Hoffmann, B.D. Here today, gone tomorrow: declines and local extinctions of invasive ant populations in the absence of intervention. Biol Invasions 17, 3351–3357 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0963-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-015-0963-7