Abstract
Habitat fragmentation can facilitate species loss through a number of processes. The remaining habitat may only sample a subset of the existing fauna (Preston 1962). Alternatively, species may become locally extinct within the remaining habitat after fragmentation (Bolger et al 1991). Small populations associated with the reduction in total area may become sensitive to stochastic processes, both demographic (Shaffer 1981; Gilpin and Soulé 1986; Goodman 1987) and environmental (Shaffer 1981). Fragmentation may reduce colonization, or immigration into the habitat remnants, especially by less mobile species (Turner and Corlett 1996). Deterministic processes associated with detrimental edge effects (Wilcove 1985; Yahner 1988; Robinson et al. 1995) and the loss of landscape level processes, such as fire regimes (Leach and Givnish 1996), also cause local extinctions post fragmentation. Fragmentation may also facilitate the immigration or invasion of exotic species that may directly compete with, prey upon, parasitize or otherwise indirectly affect native species (Diamond and Case 1986). Some of these processes are correlated. For example, an increase in edge around a habitat fragment will facilitate the penetration of exotic species that may be prominent along those edges. This is particularly a problem in urban landscapes because many successful exotic species are associated with human-mediated disturbance (Elton 1958; Fox and Fox 1986; Orians 1986; Petren and Case 1996).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alberts AC, Richman AD, Tran D et al. (1993) Effects of habitat fragmentation on native and exotic plants in southern California coastal scrub. In: Keeley JE (ed) Interface between ecology and land development in southern California. Southern California Academy of Sciences, Los Angeles, USA, pp 103–110
Allen CR, Lutz RS, Demarais S (1995) Red imported fire ant impacts on northern bobwhite populations. Ecol Appl 5: 632–638
Bolger DT, Alberts A, Soulé M (1991) Occurrence patterns of bird species in habitat fragments: sampling, extinction, and nested species subsets. Am Nat 137: 155–166
Bolger DT, Suarez AV, Crooks KR, Morrison SA, Case TJ (2000) Effects of habitat fragmentation and Argentine ants on arthropods in southern California. Ecol Appl 10: 1230–1248
Bond W, Slingsby P (1984) Collapse of an ant-plant mutualism: the Argentine ant
(Iridomyrmex humilis) and myrmecochorous Proteaceae. Ecology 65:1031–1037 Brown JH, Grover JJ, Davidson DW, Lieberman GA (1975) A preliminary study of seed predation in desert and montane habitats. Ecology 56:987–992
Cole FR, Medeiros AC, Loope LL, Zuehlke WW (1992) Effects of the Argentine ant on arthropod fauna of Hawaiian high-elevation shrubland. Ecology 73: 1313–1322
Davidson DW (1977) Species diversity and community organization in desert seed-eating ants. Ecology 58: 711–724
De Kock AE, Giliomee JH (1989) A survey of the Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr), ( Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in south African fynbos. J Entomol Soc S Afr 52: 157–164
Diamond J, Case TJ (1986) Overview: introductions, extinctions, exterminations, and invasions. In: Diamond J, Case TJ (eds) Community ecology. Harper and Row, New York, pp 65–79
Elton CS (1958) The ecology of invasions. Wiley, New York
Erickson JM (1971) The displacement of native ant species by the introduced Argentine ant Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr). Psyche 78: 257–266
Fisher RN, Suarez AV, Case TJ (2002) Spatial patterns in the abundance of a declining species: the coastal horned lizard. Consery Biol 16: 205–215
Flanders S (1943) The Argentine ant versus the parasites of the black scale. Citrograph 28: 117
Fox MD, Fox BJ (1986) The susceptibility of natural communities to invasion. In: Groves RH, Burdon JJ (eds) Ecology of biological invasions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 57–66
Gilpin ME, Soulé ME (1986) Minimum viable populations: process of species extinctions. In: Soulé ME (ed) Conservation biology: the science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, pp 19–34
Goodman D (1987) The demography of chance extinction. In: Soulé ME (ed) Viable populations for conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 11–34
Gotwald WH Jr (1995) Army ants: the biology of social predation. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY
Holldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. Belknap Press/Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Holway DA (1995) The distribution of the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) in central California: a twenty-year record of invasion. Consery Biol 9: 1634–1637
Holway DA (1998a) Effects of Argentine ant invasions on ground-dwelling arthropods in northern California riparian woodlands. Oecologia 116: 252–258
Holway DA (1998b) Factors governing the rate of invasion: a natural experiment using Argentine ants. Oecologia 115: 206–212
Holway DA (1999) Competitive mechanisms underlying the displacement of native ants by the invasive Argentine ant. Ecology 80: 238–251
Human KG, Gordon DM (1996) Exploitation and interference competition between the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, and native ant species. Oecologia 105: 405–412
Jennings MR (1988) Phrynosoma coronatum. Cat Am Amphib Reptiles 428:1–5
Jennings MR, Hayes MP (1994) Amphibian and reptile species of special concern in California. Final report. California Department of Fish and Game Inland Fisheries Division, Contract Number 8023. 1701 Nimbus Rd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95701, USA Leach MK, Givnish TJ (1996) Ecological determinants of species loss in remnant prairies. Science 273: 1555–1558
Mallis A (1941) A list of the ants of California with notes on their habits and distribution. Bull South Calif Acad Sci 40: 61–100
Mallis A (1942) Half a century with the Argentine ant. J Sci Monthly 55: 536–545
Markin GP (1970a) The seasonal life cycle of the Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in southern California. Ann Entomol Soc Am 63: 1238–1242
Markin GP (1970b) Food distribution within laboratory colonies of the Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr). Insectes Soc 17: 127–158
Montanucci RR (1989) The relationship of morphology to diet in the horned lizard genus Phrynosoma. Herpetologica 45: 208–216
Mount RH, Trauth SE, Mason WH (1981) Predation by red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), on eggs of the lizard Cnemidophorous sexlineatus ( Squamata: Teiidae). J Ala Acad Sci 52: 66–70
Munger JC (1984) Optimal foraging? Patch use by horned lizards (Iguanidae: Phrynosoma). Am Nat 123: 654–680
Newell W (1908) Notes on the habits of the Argentine ant or “New Orleans ant”, Iridomyrmex humilis. J Econ Entomol 1: 21–34
Newell W, Barber TC (1913) The Argentine ant. USDA Bureau of Entomology Bulletin 122, USDA, Washington, DC
Orians GH (1986) Site characteristics favoring invasions. In: Mooney HA, Drake JA (eds) Ecology of biological invasions of North America and Hawaii. Ecological studies 58. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 133–145
Petren K, Case TJ (1996) An experimental demonstration of exploitation competition in an ongoing invasion. Ecology 77: 118–132
Pianka ER, Parker WS (1975) Ecology of horned lizards: a review with special reference to Phrynosoma platyrhinos. Copeia 1975: 141–162
Preston FW (1962) The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity: part I. Ecology 43: 185–215
Rissing SW (1981) Prey preferences in the desert horned lizard: influence of prey foraging method and aggressive behavior. Ecology 62: 1031–1040
Robinson SK, Thompson FR III, Donovan TM, Whitehead DR, Faaborg J (1995) Regional
forest fragmentation and the success of migratory birds. Science 267:1987–1990 Shaffer ML (1981) Minimum population sizes for species conservation. Bioscience 31: 131–134
Shafir S, Roughgarden J (1998) Testing predictions of foraging theory for a sit and wait forager, Anolis gingivinus. Behav Ecol 9: 74–84
Skaiffe SH (1961) The study of ants. Longman, Green and Co, London
Smith MR (1936) Distribution of the Argentine ant in the United States and suggestions for its control or eradication. United States Department of Agriculture Circular Number 387, USDA, Washington, DC
Snelling RR, George CD (1979) The taxonomy, distribution and ecology of California desert ants. Report to Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of the Interior, Riverside, CA
Soulé ME, Bolger DT, Alberts AC et al. (1988) Reconstructed dynamics of rapid extincttions of chaparral-requiring birds in urban habitat islands. Consery Biol 2: 75–92
Suarez AV, Case TJ (2002) Bottom-up effects on the persistence of a specialist predator: ant invasions and coastal horned lizards. Ecol Appl 12: 291–298
Suarez AV, Bolger DT, Case TJ (1998) The effects of fragmentation and invasion on the native ant community in coastal southern California. Ecology 79: 2041–2056
Suarez AV, Richmond JQ, Case TJ (2000) Prey selection in horned lizards following the invasion of Argentine ants in southern California. Ecol Appl 10: 711–725
Titus ESG (1905) Report on the “New Orleans” ant (Iridomyrmex humilis Mayr). US Bur Entomol Bull 52: 79–84
Tremper BD (1976) Distribution of the Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis Mayr, in relation to certain native ants of California: ecological, physiological, and behavioral aspects. PhD Thesis, University of California, Berkeley
Tschinkel WR (1987) Seasonal life history and nest architecture of a winter active ant, Prenolepis imparis. Insectes Soc 34: 143–164
Turner IM, Corlett RT (1996) The conservation value of small, isolated fragments of lowland tropical rain forest. Trends Ecol Evol 11: 330–333
Ward PS (1987) Distribution of the introduced Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis) in natural habitats of the lower Sacramento Valley and its effects on the indigenous ant fauna. Hilgardia 55: 1–16
Westman WE (1981) Diversity relations and succession in Californian coastal sage scrub. Ecology 62: 170–184
Wheeler GC, Wheeler J (1973) Ants of Deep Canyon. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
Wilcove DS (1985) Nest predation in forest tracts and the decline of migratory songbirds. Ecology 66: 1211–1214
Williams DF (ed) (1994) Exotic ants: biology, impact, and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, CO
Woodworth CW (1908) The Argentine ant in California. Univ Calif Agric Exp Stn 38: 1–192
Yahner R (1988) Changes in wildlife communities near edges. Consery Biol 2: 333–339
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Suarez, A.V., Case, T.J. (2003). The Ecological Consequences of a Fragmentation-Mediated Invasion: The Argentine Ant, Linepithema humile, in Southern California. In: Bradshaw, G.A., Marquet, P.A. (eds) How Landscapes Change. Ecological Studies, vol 162. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05238-9_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05238-9_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-07827-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-05238-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive