Ants and ground beetles were collected in pitfall traps from a longleaf pine savanna in the early stages of restoration. Insect abundance and species richness were compared among four treatment combinations of two fire frequencies and presence and absence of an exotic ant, Solenopsis invicta, the red imported fire ant. Amdro® was used to suppress S. invicta.
Ten of the 28 ground beetle species collected were single individuals. Burning a fire-maintained habitat does not typically alter ground beetle populations, but there were not enough data to validate this claim.
Twenty-six species of ants were collected from pitfall traps. Exotic species comprised 23% of the species richness and 98% of the individuals collected. Solenopsis invicta far exceeded other species’ abundances and accounted for 95% of total ants collected. Because there were no differences in native abundance among treatments, it was concluded that Amdro® was not necessary to maintain a balance between S. invicta and native ants. A single applied fire without Amdro® produced the same results with respect to S. invicta and native ant abundance as two fires with Amdro®. The greatest number of exotic ants were collected from treatments with two fires and no Amdro®, suggesting more frequent fires increase exotic ant abundance. Data suggest that native ants are able to coexist with S. invicta and other exotics even when vastly outnumbered by them.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Formicidae Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant)
Keywords: conservation, biological diversity
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