New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Relative risk of invasive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
establishing in New Zealand
Richard J. Harris*
Landcare Research
Private Bag 6
Nelson 7042, New Zealand
Gary Barker
Landcare Research
Private Bag
Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
*Present address: Department of Environmental Biology,
Curtin University of Technology, PO Box U1987, Perth, Western
Australia. R.Harris@curtin.edu.au
Abstract Human-assisted spread of species
poses a major
challenge to border security agencies. Ideally, limited resources need
to be targeted at species posing the most risk. Climate matching is an
important component of assessing risk but often little or no biological
information is available to enable detailed modelling. To assess if
distribution records alone provide useful establishment predictions we
compare the climate in New Zealand and its outlying islands to that
found in the current native and introduced ranges of 12 tramp ant
species, three of which are already established in New Zealand, using
the climate module of BIOSECURE, a risk assessment tool. Eleven species
showed a similar general pattern, with mean annual temperature being
the climatic variable with the least overlap between the estimated
realised niche and the predicted New Zealand niche. The twelfth
species, of temperate origin, is less restricted by temperature, but
much of New Zealand may have too high a rainfall. The present and
future threats posed by tramp ants are discussed in relation to climate
limitations.
Keywords Anoplolepis gracilipes;
climate matching; Lasius
neglectus; Linepithema humile; Monomorium destructor;
M. pharaonis; Paratrechina longicornis; Pheidole
megacephala; risk assessment; Solenopsis geminata; S.
invicta; S. richteri; Tapinoma melanocephalum; temperature;
tramp ants; Wasmannia auropunctata
Z06039; Online publication date 20 July 2007; Received 18 December
2006; accepted 14 May 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2007, Vol. 34: 161–178
0301–4223/07/3403–0161 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2007
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