title: How many and which ant species are being accidentally moved around the world?
abstract: Human transportation facilitates the dispersal of exotic ants, but few studies have quantified the magnitude and geography of these movements. We used several non-parametric indices to estimate the number of species successfully introduced to or established in new regions. We also compared their source biogeographic realms to assess the importance of geographical origin in determining the likelihood of establishment after introduction. Occurrence data on exotic ants derive from studies of three temperate regions. Our results suggest that the numbers of introduced or established ants may be much larger than the numbers so far documented. Ants introduced or established in new regions tend to arrive from the same or neighbouring realms, as would be expected if exotic species tend to match climates and if arrival/establishment is dependent upon higher trade rates from neighbouring countries.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona, Catalonia, Spain veronica.miravete@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Miravete
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona, Catalonia, Spain Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, Ctra. Sant Llorenç de Morunys km 2, 25280 Solsona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roura-Pascual
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: Crisanto
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D002980:Climate; D003132:Commerce; D005843:Geography; D058865:Introduced Species; D009426:Netherlands; D009520:New Zealand; D014481:United States
keywords: biological invasions; exotic species; formicidae; richness estimator