Title: Effects of red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) control on carrion use by vertebrate scavengers

Abstract

Carrion is an important resource, and competition for carrion by microbial, invertebrate, and vertebrate scavenging communities is great. In particular, carrion is important to facultative and obligate vertebrate scavengers globally, and these species provide an irreplaceable ecological service by efficiently removing carcasses, which potentially harbor pathogens, from the environment. Although vertebrates efficiently acquire carcasses, they compete intensively with invertebrate and microbial communities, especially during warmer months when invertebrate and microbial activity peaks. The presence of invasive invertebrates may further exacerbate competition among scavenging groups; however, little is known about how invasive invertebrates can influence invertebrate scavenger dynamics and ultimately competition with vertebrate scavengers. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta; RIFA) is an invasive species of particular interest in North America, as it is a dominant predator and decomposer throughout much their range. We hypothesized that in areas where abundant, RIFA can outcompete vertebrates for carrion resources, altering nutrient cycling and food web dynamics. We tested this hypothesis by experimentally excluding RIFA from rabbit carcasses and found strong seasonal effects in our data; however, surprisingly, we found no effect of RIFA control on vertebrate scavenging efficiency, rates of carcass detection, carcass persistence, or the richness of local scavengers. Rather, wemore » observed a highly efficient vertebrate scavenging community that assimilated 87.4% of carcasses during our study. Furthermore, this high rate of vertebrate scavenging efficiency was maintained in both control (93.0%) and RIFA treatment (81.8%) sites, suggesting presence of abundant RIFA populations did not limit vertebrate acquisition of carrion. Future research should focus on the interactions of RIFA with the remaining invertebrate scavenging community to further investigate whether RIFA impact the assimilation of carrion resources within invertebrate communities.« less

Authors:

Turner, Kelsey L. ^[1]; Conner, L. Mike ^[2]; Beasley, James C. ^[3]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. The Jones Center at Ichauway, Newton, GA (United States); Univ. of Georgia, Aiken, SC (United States)
2. The Jones Center at Ichauway, Newton, GA (United States)
3. Univ. of Georgia, Aiken, SC (United States)

Publication Date:

Thu Oct 21 00:00:00 EDT 2021

Research Org.:

Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1894923

Grant/Contract Number:  

EM0005228

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Food Webs

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 29; Journal ID: ISSN 2352-2496

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Carrion; Invasive species; Nutrient cycling; Red imported fire ant; Scavenging; Solenopsis invicta