Do Invasive Fire Ants Affect Habitat Selection within a Small Mammal Community?
Date
2010-12-27
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Ecology
Abstract
Animals must balance foraging with the need to avoid predators and risky habitats that decrease their fitness, and at the same time they must cope with competitors vying for habitat and resources. We examined how habitat selection and population density of four native small mammals were altered by the presence of red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta). When population size was low, hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and pigmy mice (Baiomys taylori) as well as white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) used the “safe”, low fire ant habitat, as predicted by theories of density-dependent habitat selection. However, as fire ant population sizes expanded, cotton rats appeared to displace pigmy mice into the fire ant-dense grassland drainage while white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) displaced all the other small mammals from low fire ant forest/brushland habitat.
Description
This article was originally published in International Journal of Ecology. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/642412. Copyright © 2010 Wendee N. Holtcamp et al.
Keywords
life on land
Citation
Holtcamp, Wendee N., Christopher K. Williams, and William E. Grant. “Do Invasive Fire Ants Affect Habitat Selection within a Small Mammal Community?” Edited by Andrew Sih. International Journal of Ecology 2010 (December 27, 2010): 642412. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/642412.