Niche differentiation and fine-scale projections for Argentine ants based on remotely sensed data.
Modeling ecological niches of species is a promising approach for predicting the geographic potential of invasive species in new environments. Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) rank among the most successful invasive species: native to South America, they have invaded broad areas worldwide. Despite their widespread success, little is known about what makes an area susceptible--or not--to invasion. Here, we use a genetic algorithm approach to ecological niche modeling based on high-resolution remote-sensing data to examine the roles of niche similarity and difference in predicting invasions by this species. Our comparisons support a picture of general conservatism of the species' ecological characteristics, in spite of distinct geographic and community contexts.
Roura-Pascual
Núria
N
Department de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Catalonia, Spain. nuri.roura@udg.es
Suarez
Andrew V
AV
McNyset
Kristina
K
Gómez
Crisanto
C
Pons
Pere
P
Touyama
Yoshifumi
Y
Wild
Alexander L
AL
Gascon
Ferran
F
Peterson
A Townsend
AT
D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D007564:Japan; D008954:Models, Biological; D009656:North America; D011174:Portugal; D013020:South America; D013030:Spain