The Latest Biology News And Medical NewsBiology News 2Health News 2Biology News 3Health News 3
HOME >> BIOLOGY >> NEWS
Unpeaceful co-existence: How strengths and weaknesses maintain biodiversity in an ant community

Many species of ants scavenge for the same kinds of food. Why then doesn't the single most efficient species drive the others to extinction? A research group based at the University of Utah conducted a detailed study of ants in the mountains of southeastern Arizona to identify exactly how they manage to share the same environment. The study appears in the March issue of the American Naturalist.

They found that some species are better at finding food resources (dead crickets left by researchers) while others are better at defending them. This so-called dominance-discovery tradeoff is complicated by the size of the cricket because small crickets can be collected so quickly that defense is unimportant. For both large and small crickets, two ant species are adept at both finding and defending resources, and would be predicted to outcompete the others because they violate the tradeoff. But it is precisely these ants that are beset by parasitoid flies which lay their eggs specifically on these types of ant, eventually causing a gruesome death by decapitation. When the target ants see the flies hovering around, they run away and are unable to effectively defend resources. Using mathematical models, the team showed that this combination of factors is indeed sufficient to explain how five of the six most common species manage to survive, with the sixth remaining a bit of a mystery. "Just like people, different ants have different strengths and weaknesses, and these differences allow them to coexist, although not peacefully," says Ed LeBrun. "Developing a quantitative understanding of the mechanisms by which species coexist is essential to knowing how to preserve biodiversity," adds Fred Adler. "Our quantitative approach should be useful in modeling the potential success or failure of invasive ant species," concludes Don Feener.


'"/>

Contact: Trish Morse
pmorse@press.uchicago.edu
773-702-0446
University of Chicago Press Journals
8-Feb-2007


Page: 1

Related biology news :

1. Long-term ulcerative colitis study shows Remicade responders maintained improvement
2. Big vegetarian mammals can play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, study finds
3. Stealth technology maintains fitness after sex
4. NASA snow data helps maintain nations largest, oldest bison herd
5. How embryonic stem cells maintain their identity
6. Mad-cow culprit maintains stem cells
7. Weizmann Institute suggests that immune cells help to maintain cognition and brain cell renewal
8. Leptin-signaling protein maintains normal body weight and energy balance in mice
9. Aranesp dosed every three weeks achieved and maintained target hemoglobin levels
10. Cholesterol-regulating protein maintains fat-storage, fat-burning balance
11. UCSD researchers maintain stem cells without contaminated animal feeder layers

Post Your Comments:
(Date:11/23/2009)... highest resolution images of peptides attaching t...standing how biomolecules manipulate the growth cr...for kidney stones using biomolecules. , The rese...of the journal Proceedings of the National Academ...h mineral surfaces by accelerating, switching and ...
(Date:11/23/2009)...al engineer and cardiologist Tzung "John" Hsiai ho...nguish cardiac emergencies requiring immediate sur...nd lifestyle change. , Angiograms, images made b... heart, offer an inside view of the interior surfa...ng deposits of a dangerous fatty substance called ...
(Date:11/23/2009)...ix-week-old turkey poults could save millions of m...according to Dr. Gerald Steiner from the Dresden U...heir use of infrared spectroscopy to determine the... accurate method with the potential to be used by ...e eggs for breeding. The pilot study has just been...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Scientists watch as peptides control crystal growth with 'switches, throttles and brakes' 2Scientists watch as peptides control crystal growth with 'switches, throttles and brakes' 3Stable plaque or heart attack plaque? USC researcher builds new sensor to tell which is which 2Rescuing male turkey chicks 2Mercedes Benz Gives to a McDreamy Cause 58818 1Mercedes Benz Gives to a McDreamy Cause 58818 2Mercedes Benz Gives to a McDreamy Cause 58818 3Mercedes Benz Gives to a McDreamy Cause 58818 4InVivo and CEVEC pharmaceuticals sign license agreement regarding the use of human CAP T Technology for production of recombinant proteins 10249 1InVivo and CEVEC pharmaceuticals sign license agreement regarding the use of human CAP T Technology for production of recombinant proteins 10249 2InVivo and CEVEC pharmaceuticals sign license agreement regarding the use of human CAP T Technology for production of recombinant proteins 10249 3Respect Life and the Truth on Respect Life Sunday 58814 1Respect Life and the Truth on Respect Life Sunday 58814 2Respect Life and the Truth on Respect Life Sunday 58814 3
(Date:11/23/2009)...,, CARY,N.C.,Nov.23/PRNewswire-FirstCall/--Corn...harmaceuticalcompanyfocusedonacquiring,developinga...erespiratoryandrelatedmarkets,todayannouncedthatCr...lbepresentingacorporateoverviewatthe21stAnnualPipe...December2,2009atTheNewYorkPalaceHotelinNewYorkCity...
(Date:11/20/2009)...Spain and Latin American countries have an opportu...ectors. Researchers from the University of Valenci...on, have studied the productive fabric of the Span...at Spain,s food and plant sectors have more clout ...echnology as applied to food and plants has been o...
(Date:11/20/2009)..., , SEATTLE, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ ...ounced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ...mpany,s amended Biologics License Application (BLA...response. The FDA has assigned a Prescription Dru...ch time it will respond to Dendreon,s amended BLA....
(Date:11/20/2009)..., , STOCKHOLM, November 20 /PRNewswir...at the European Investment Fund (EIF) has entered ...he co-investment fund will be,managed by Karolinsk...portfolio of early-stage pharmaceutical and medica...6.7 M Euros in the co-investment fund. The agreeme...
Breaking Biology Technology:Cornerstone Therapeutics to Present at the 21st Annual Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference 2Spanish biotechnology should focus on food and plant sectors to be more competitive 2Dendreon Receives FDA Acknowledgement of Complete Response 2Dendreon Receives FDA Acknowledgement of Complete Response 3Karolinska Development and EIF Start Landmark Co-Investment Fund for Life Science Innovation 2Karolinska Development and EIF Start Landmark Co-Investment Fund for Life Science Innovation 3
Other News:
...officials charged with the ethical oversight of re...cial interests to potential clinical research part...erest Notification Study (COINS), just published i...ine and Ethics. Instead, those interviewed suggest...
... fly and a grant from the AICR the Association fo...ading scientist in London identify potential targe...n one of the first studies of its kind, Dr Buzz Ba...e for Cancer Research (LICR) is using the tiny fru...
...er 10) Researchers from the UCL Branch of the glob...e uncovered how a genetic variation present in eth...ancer susceptibility. The findings published in Na...cs, the study of how inherited variations may affe...
...ptember 11, 2006) If you're a bit weary of writin...ider covering The American Physiological Society's...ing Diversity, taking place October 8-11 in Virgin...interesting story lines you can develop, breaking ...
US clinical researchers resist full financial disclosure, according to Conflicts-of-Interest Study 2US clinical researchers resist full financial disclosure, according to Conflicts-of-Interest Study 3Using nature's most primitive anti-viral defense system to find new approaches to cancer research 2Ethnicity and cancer susceptibility 2Animal physiology conference sheds light on human physiology 2Animal physiology conference sheds light on human physiology 3Animal physiology conference sheds light on human physiology 4Animal physiology conference sheds light on human physiology 5
.The function of proteins the workhorses of our bodies depends on how those proteins are physically folded. Researchers around the world are examining the countless complex structures of proteins to
...income children and children whose families someti...or poorer health status, according to a new study....n Journal of Public Health, was conducted by Kathe...w a Community Health Scholar at the University of ...
...mily of proteinase inhibitors that bind to the cat...ue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI-) 1, a well stud...bility to limit the clotting cascade. Based on it...tein TFPI-2 was expected to play a similar role, a...
...nt for a method of delivering normal genes in a pi...ith diabetes was issued May 1 to the University of...tent and Trademark Office.......Sometimes referred...genes has been a long-sought and elusive technique...
Proteins are vastly more complicated than previously realized 2Proteins are vastly more complicated than previously realized 3Low-income, hungry children sick more often 2UC San Francisco patents method for delivering normal genes in a pill 2UC San Francisco patents method for delivering normal genes in a pill 3