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Photo: Erica Van de Waal
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Info DEE # 34 - December 2021
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A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEW COLLEAGUES
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Mr Marc Bastardot has returned to the DEE joining the group of Prof. Schwander as Field Assistant. Marc is located in office 2101, phone 41.76. Marc.Bastardot@unil.ch
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Mr Tadeas Priklopil has returned to the DEE joined the group of Prof. Lehmann as a Post Doctoral Researcher. Tadeas is located in office 4304. phone 42.79. Tadeas.Priklopil@unil.ch
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We are also glad to count on the help of our new Student-assistants: Mme Marie BOLE FEYSOT in the group of Prof. Keller and M Hugo CORVAL in the group of Prof. Goudet.
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Hugo Darras (Group Keller) is the winner of the 2021 Prix Jeune Chercheur-euse awarded by the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (French section). He was awarded the prize for his work on the reproductive mechanisms of ants. Congratulations Hugo!
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Cleo Bertelsmeier, along with Jérôme Gippet and Lorena George, have published a paper on the invasion of Tapinoma magnum in the lake Geneva region entitled: Local coexistence of native and invasive ant species is associated with micro-spatial shifts in foraging activity
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Summary: Invasive species often displace native species by outcompeting them. Yet, some native species can persist even in heavily invaded areas. The mechanisms mediating this local coexistence are still unclear. Fine-scale microclimatic heterogeneity could promote the local coexistence of native and invasive animal competitors. We tested if native ant species could coexist with a recent ant invader, Tapinoma magnum, by shifting their foraging activity in time or space to different microclimatic conditions. The foraging activity of native epigeic ant species was compared among invaded and uninvaded sites. We collected ants at baits in green spaces on the north, east, south and west sides of buildings in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon to test if native species foraged under different microclimatic conditions in invaded sites. Invaded sites had lower ant species richness, diversity, and relative abundance. The native black garden ant Lasius niger – one of the most widespread Palearctic ant species – persisted at high densities in invaded areas but foraged less on the east side of buildings and more on the west side. Microclimatic heterogeneity might promote native and invasive species coexistence by allowing some native species to shift their foraging behaviour to locally avoid or outcompete invasive competitors.
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