A comparison of the red fire ant and gopher tortoise burrow distribution within the FAU preserve.

Date Issued:: 2014
Summary:: The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is considered a threatened species throughout much of its range. Their decline is mainly attributed to habitat fragmentation and destruction. These habitat disturbances commonly favor invasive species such as the red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). The red fire ant has been detected on aprons of gopher tortoise burrows at the FAU preserve and we would like to evaluate whether the distribution of red fire ants overlaps with that of the tortoises burrows. Ant distribution was accessed at the FAU preserve by running 10 random 100m transect lines and placing sardine baits at every 20m interval. Preliminary data suggests that red fire ants were abundant in 70% of the transects; however, we were unable to establish a direct correlation between the distribution of gopher tortoise burrows and that of red fire ants. The ants were tentatively identified to subfamilies and further identification will be performed.

Title:	A comparison of the red fire ant and gopher tortoise burrow distribution within the FAU preserve.	370 views 22 downloads
Name(s):	Nenkova, Anzehla Frazier, Evelyn
Type of Resource:	text
Genre:	Poster
Date Issued:	2014
Publisher:	Florida Atlantic University Digital Library
Physical Form:	Online Resource
Extent:	1 p.
Language(s):	English
Summary:	The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is considered a threatened species throughout much of its range. Their decline is mainly attributed to habitat fragmentation and destruction. These habitat disturbances commonly favor invasive species such as the red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). The red fire ant has been detected on aprons of gopher tortoise burrows at the FAU preserve and we would like to evaluate whether the distribution of red fire ants overlaps with that of the tortoises burrows. Ant distribution was accessed at the FAU preserve by running 10 random 100m transect lines and placing sardine baits at every 20m interval. Preliminary data suggests that red fire ants were abundant in 70% of the transects; however, we were unable to establish a direct correlation between the distribution of gopher tortoise burrows and that of red fire ants. The ants were tentatively identified to subfamilies and further identification will be performed.
Identifier:	FA0005031 (IID)
Subject(s):	College students --Research --United States.
Persistent Link to This Record:	http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA0005031
Host Institution:	FAU

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