Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2022 May 23;377(1851):20210146. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0146. Epub 2022 Apr 4.
Interspecific competition influences the composition of ecological communities. Species may differ in their needs for different resources, therefore resource availability may determine the outcome of interspecific interactions. Species often compete over food, shelter or both. When more than one resource is limited, different species may prioritize different resources. To determine the impact of resource availability on the competitive relationship between an invasive and a native species, we examined interactions between groups of the invasive Argentine ant () and the native odorous ant () over (1) food, (2) shelter or (3) both simultaneously. We further examined the mechanisms underlying the competitive relationship, asking whether aggressive interactions, exploratory behaviour or the order of arrival at a resource explained resource use. Shelter was preferred by both species when no competitors were present. In a competitive setting, groups controlled shelter through aggressive displacement but lost control over food due to investment of workers in the control of shelter. Thus, there are tradeoffs when competing over multiple resources and aggressive interactions allow invasive species to displace native species from a preferred resource. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'.
种间竞争影响生态群落的组成。物种在对不同资源的需求上可能存在差异，因此资源的可利用性可能决定种间相互作用的结果。物种通常会争夺食物、住所或两者兼而有之。当不止一种资源受到限制时，不同的物种可能会优先考虑不同的资源。为了确定资源可利用性对入侵物种和本地物种之间竞争关系的影响，我们研究了入侵的阿根廷蚂蚁（）和本地的恶臭蚁（）之间的群体相互作用，涉及（1）食物，（2）住所，或（3）同时涉及两者。我们进一步研究了竞争关系的潜在机制，探讨了竞争行为、探索行为或到达资源的顺序是否解释了资源的利用。当没有竞争者存在时，两种物种都更喜欢住所。在竞争环境中，组通过积极的排挤来控制住所，但由于工人在控制住所方面的投入，它们失去了对食物的控制。因此，在争夺多种资源时存在权衡，而积极的相互作用使入侵物种能够将本地物种从首选资源中排挤出去。本文是主题为“跨类群的群体冲突”的一部分。
