Biological invasions of Southern Ocean islands: the Collembola of Marion Island as a test of generalities

Gabriel, Arneil G.; Chown, S. L.; Barendse, Jaco; Marshall, David J.; Mercer, R. D.; Pugh, Philip; Smith, V. R.

doi:10.1034/j.1600-0587.2001.d01-198.x

Cited by 77 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The caterpillars were hand-sorted from the cores in the laboratory and dry mass was determined. For these five vegetation communities, the nutrient data presented by Gabriel et al (2001) were used for comparison with the albatross nest nutrient data. The communities on Marion Island may be divided into those with high nutrient (coastal Cotula plumosa herbfield and Poa cookii tussock grassland) and low nutrient (Blepharidophyllum densifolium mire, Sanionia uncinata mire, Crassula moschata herbfield) communities .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caterpillars benefit from thermal ecosystem engineering by wandering albatrosses on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Sinclair

Chown

2005

Biol. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) nest on Southern Ocean islands, building elevated nests upon which they incubate eggs and raise chicks, and which the chicks occupy through winter. The nests support high invertebrate biomass, including larvae of the flightless moth Pringleophaga marioni. Here we argue that high biomass of P. marioni in the nests is not associated with nutrient loading as previously suspected, but that higher temperatures in the nests increase growth and feeding rate, and decrease deleterious repeated cold exposure, providing fitness advantages for P. marioni. Thus, wandering albatrosses may be serving as thermal engineers, modifying temperature and therefore enabling better resource use by P. marioni.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caterpillars benefit from thermal ecosystem engineering by wandering albatrosses on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Sinclair

Chown

2005

Biol. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The invasion of a new habitat may depend on a number of factors. Such factors may include the initial colonising ability of the species, which may reduce its susceptibility to extinction and allow it to rapidly increase its range (Sax and Brown, 2000;Duncan et al, 2001), the abiotic environment (Blackburn and Duncan, 2001;Gabriel et al, 2001), the characteristics of the invader and the recipient community (Vitousek et al, 1996;Juliano, 1998;Naeem et al, 2000), and the relationship between these variables (Holway, 1998). Thus, predicting the invasion success of an exotic species may be extremely difficult, given the complexity of the factors involved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental study of the relative humidity preference and survival of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): comparisons with a native Iridomyrmex species in South Australia

Walters

Mackay

2003

Insectes Sociaux

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), is a widespread invasive ant species that commonly displaces native ants and other ground-dwelling invertebrates in its introduced range. Previous studies have documented a relationship between the spread of Argentine ants and abiotic conditions (particularly water availability) in invaded areas, suggesting that the invasion success of Argentine ants may be related to specific abiotic factors. This study describes the relative humidity preferences and survival of Argentine ants and a dominant native ant, Iridomyrmex 'rufoniger' sp. group, in the laboratory. In a preference experiment, Argentine ant workers showed a significantly greater propensity than Iridomyrmex to locate themselves in containers with the highest relative humidity. A series of survival trials revealed that the survival of both species was related to the relative humidities within experimental containers. The survival of Argentine ant colonies was reduced in comparison with those of Iridomyrmex sp. after 4 h, however by 24 h both species displayed similar levels of survival in all relative humidity conditions. These findings confirm a relationship between the level of available moisture and the distribution and survival of Argentine ants, and may help to account for the current distribution and invasion success of Argentine ants in Australia. Figure 2. Relative humidity (%) preferences of workers of Argentine ants and Iridomyrmex sp. over 24 h (Silica gel = 7 %, MgCl 2 = 33 %, NaCl = 75 %, KCl = 80 %, K 2 Cr 2 O 7 = > 90 % RH). Error bars show 95 % Confidence Interval of Mean

show abstract

“…The flora and fauna of the island have been subject to prolonged and intensive study (41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47). This study has culminated in a 4-year (1996-1999) survey of the invertebrate assemblages associated with each of the broad land types, with replicated standardized field sampling conducted continuously for periods of a year or more in each type (48)(49)(50). This study has resulted in a remarkably full understanding of the composition of the fauna.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The animal species–body size distribution of Marion Island

Gaston

Chown

Mercer

2001

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Body size is one of the most significant features of animals. Not only is it correlated with many life history and ecological traits, but it also may influence the abundance of species within, and their membership of, assemblages. Understanding of the latter processes is frequently based on a comparison of model outcomes with the frequency of species of different body mass within natural assemblages. Consequently, the form of these frequency distributions has been much debated. Empirical data usually concern taxonomically delineated groups, such as classes or orders, whereas the processes ultimately apply to whole assemblages. Here, we report the most complete animal species-body size distribution to date for those free-living species breeding on sub-Antarctic Marion Island and using the terrestrial environment. Extending over 15 orders of magnitude of variation in body mass, this distribution is bimodal, with separate peaks for invertebrates and vertebrates. Under logarithmic transformation, the distribution for vertebrates is not significantly skewed, whereas that for invertebrates is right-skewed. Contrary to expectation based on a fractal or pseudofractal environmental structure, the decline in the richness of species at the smallest body sizes is a real effect and not a consequence of unrecorded species or of species introductions to the island. The scarcity of small species might well be a consequence of their large geographic ranges.

show abstract

Biological invasions of Southern Ocean islands: the Collembola of Marion Island as a test of generalities

Cited by 77 publications

References 27 publications

Caterpillars benefit from thermal ecosystem engineering by wandering albatrosses on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

Caterpillars benefit from thermal ecosystem engineering by wandering albatrosses on sub-Antarctic Marion Island

An experimental study of the relative humidity preference and survival of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): comparisons with a native Iridomyrmex species in South Australia

The animal species–body size distribution of Marion Island

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About