Home  About us  Contact
 

Crazy Ant (crazy + ant)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences100%

Kinds of Crazy Ant

  • yellow crazy ant
    		•

    Selected Abstracts

    Spatial dynamics of supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean

    DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 1 2006
    K. L. AbbottArticle first published online: 19 DEC 200
    ABSTRACT Key to the management of invasive species is an understanding of the scope of an invasion, the rate of proliferation and the rate at which invaded habitats become degraded. This study examines the spatial dynamics of high-density supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, and the associated impacts at their boundaries. Since the early 1990s, A. gracilipes supercolonies have occupied over 30% of the 10,000 ha of rainforest on Christmas Island. Thirty-four discrete high-density supercolonies formed between 1989 and 2003, ranging in size across nearly three orders of magnitude from 0.9 to 787 ha. Supercolonies boundaries are diffuse, and ants were observed in low densities in some cases up to 200 m from the main high-density supercolony. The 13 boundaries examined were all dynamic over a 10,20 observation month period: nine boundaries expanded, and the maximum rate of spread was 0.5 m day,1. Across boundary transition zones, between high-density supercolonies and intact rainforest, yellow crazy ants reduced other ant species richness, occupied red crab burrows and killed resident red crabs, which was the trigger for ,invasional meltdown' on Christmas Island. The highly variable and unpredictable nature of A. gracilipes boundaries poses a challenge for incorporation into a predictive framework, as well as for their management. [source]

    Global potential distribution of an invasive species, the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) under climate change

    INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2008
    Youhua CHEN
    Abstract Changes to the Earth's climate may affect the distribution of countless species. Understanding the potential distribution of known invasive species under an altered climate is vital to predicting impacts and developing management policy. The present study employs ecological niche modeling to construct the global potential distribution range of the yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes) using past, current and future climate scenarios. Three modeling algorithms, GARP, BioClim and Environmental Distance, were used in a comparative analysis. Output from the models suggest firstly that this insect originated from south Asia, expanded into Europe and then into Afrotropical regions, after which it formed its current distribution. Second, the invasive risk of A. gracilipes under future climatic change scenarios will become greater because of an extension of suitable environmental conditions in higher latitudes. Third, when compared to the GARP model, BioClim and Environmental Distance models were better at modeling a species' ancestral distribution. These findings are discussed in light of the predictive accuracy of these models. [source]

    Spatial dynamics of supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean

    DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 1 2006
    K. L. AbbottArticle first published online: 19 DEC 200
    ABSTRACT Key to the management of invasive species is an understanding of the scope of an invasion, the rate of proliferation and the rate at which invaded habitats become degraded. This study examines the spatial dynamics of high-density supercolonies of the invasive yellow crazy ant, Anoplolepis gracilipes, on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, and the associated impacts at their boundaries. Since the early 1990s, A. gracilipes supercolonies have occupied over 30% of the 10,000 ha of rainforest on Christmas Island. Thirty-four discrete high-density supercolonies formed between 1989 and 2003, ranging in size across nearly three orders of magnitude from 0.9 to 787 ha. Supercolonies boundaries are diffuse, and ants were observed in low densities in some cases up to 200 m from the main high-density supercolony. The 13 boundaries examined were all dynamic over a 10,20 observation month period: nine boundaries expanded, and the maximum rate of spread was 0.5 m day,1. Across boundary transition zones, between high-density supercolonies and intact rainforest, yellow crazy ants reduced other ant species richness, occupied red crab burrows and killed resident red crabs, which was the trigger for ,invasional meltdown' on Christmas Island. The highly variable and unpredictable nature of A. gracilipes boundaries poses a challenge for incorporation into a predictive framework, as well as for their management. [source]