Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Influence Of The Proximity And Amount Of Human Development And Roads On The Occurrence Of The Red Imported Fire Ant In The Lower Florida Keys, Elizabeth A. Forys, Craig R. Allen, Daniel P. Wojcik

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We examined the influence of both the proximity and extent of human developments and paved roads on the presence of the predatory, non-indigenous, red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). This species was inadvertently introduced into the United States at the port of Mobile, Alabama, around 1930 and rapidly spread to many southeastern states, including Florida. More recently, S. invicta colonized the Florida Keys, an area with a high proportion of rare and endemic vertebrate and invertebrate species. We placed bait transects in transitional salt-marsh, pineland, and hardwood hammocks on 13 of the lower Florida Keys and compared habitat …