Source: LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE AND MULTI-STRESSORS: THEIR EFFECT ON LOUISIANA ANTS AND OTHER INSECTS/SPIDERS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0226314
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
LAB94102
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2011
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2014
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Hooper-Bui, L.
Recipient Organization
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
202 HIMES HALL
BATON ROUGE,LA 70803-0100
Performing Department
Entomology
Non Technical Summary
This project has impacts well beyond increased understanding of fundamental science in two critical areas: (1) the delivery of direct policy-relevant information for an emerging environmental problems, such as storm surge and oil impacts in coastal areas and (2) the training of students during the field research and in the analyses. The research will produce an analysis of community metrics of ants that provide critical quantitative analyses where they are lacking. Climate change and anthropogenic changes to the landscape upstream (encroachment of metropolitan areas on landscapes that typically served to return water to the water table) increase the possibility of flooding events, storm surge and oil intrusion being repeated. The nature of our effort transcends a simplistic classification of monitoring by virtue of its sophisticated analyses and testing of hypotheses. This study can become a model for how to exploit socially-relevant catastrophes as laboratories for learning and critical thinking. The trajectory of research supported by this study will be leveraged for long-term support.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
30%
Developmental
10%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1350330107020%
1350330113020%
1353110107020%
1353110113020%
1353120107010%
1353120113010%
Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife;

Subject Of Investigation
0330 - Wetland and riparian systems; 3120 - Spiders, mites, ticks, and other arthropods; 3110 - Insects;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology; 1130 - Entomology and acarology;
Goals / Objectives
There are four projects with multiple objectives each that fit together to examine the overall effect of disturbance and multi-stressors on Louisiana's ants and other insects/spiders. Invasive Ants 1. Investigate, identify and document the effects of invasive ants in Louisiana. Disaster Response 1. Investigate the impacts of natural, man-made, and technological disasters on insects in Louisiana. Storm Surge Associated with Hurricanes 1. Examine ant invasion biology and succession after storm surge as a stressor 2. Examine the effects of saltwater on the red imported fire ant 3. Effects of ant faunal (particularly the red imported fire ant) changes caused by storm surge and other hurricane activity, Northern Gulf of Mexico. Ants and other insects as bioindindicators of multistressors on beaches and foredunes in Northern Gulf of Mexico 1. Determine how stressors, such as those arising from hydrocarbon (HC) spills, can have dramatic, visible, and immediate direct impacts on coastal ecosystems due to the physical and toxic effects on land-dwelling invertebrate organisms. 2. Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through an ecosystem approach to management, measuring exposure to stressors, and effects of stress on food webs using ants and other insects/spiders as indicator species. 3. Determine indirect effects of hydrocarbons on organisms that can become food sources for ants in higher trophic levels. 4. Determine how major environmental stressors can cascade through the ant community as ants at lower trophic levels undergo changes and as species turnover occurs.
Project Methods
Widespread flooding in South Louisiana provides an opportunity to measure immediate community changes and later, the impact of those changes on the food web. Previously, my work has focused on diversity and relative abundance (Dash and Hooper-Bui 2005) of ants in Louisiana. Using data from the flooded area (Atchafalaya Basin) and contemporaneous controls (Pearl River Basin), we can assign ant-species functional groups (Andersen 1990, Crist 2009) to test Petchey et al's (2004) hypothesis that "species are lost from higher trophic levels more frequently than lower trophic levels." We expect to gain insight into the functional consequences of species losses by examining sap-feeding insects associated with ants. This catastrophic flooding event provides an opportunity to extend the Petchey et al (2004) work to several ant species, some of which are flood-adapted and others which are not. My recent work (Adams et al in press and Papillion et al 2011) has focused on the physical and behavioral adaptations of ants for survival of inundation. This study would use previous research as a platform to launch the testing of hypotheses of the effects of multi-stressors on ant communities in the Atchafalaya Basin. Focus is collecting ants, beetles, and other invertebrates along 0.25 m2 transects by cutting the plants to the soil or water level. Samples will be sorted in the lab and live ants removed and curated. Samples will be dried and any ants or other insects present will be collected. A sweep net will be used to sample invertebrates along a linear transect (25 m x 2 m). These samples are stored in alcohol and sorted by morpho-species in the laboratory.

Progress 08/01/11 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Communities along the Gulf Coast, Pest Management Professionals, Homeowners, and Biologists. Changes/Problems: The PI has resigned from her present position and is working in another college at the University. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Several graduate and undergraduate students participated in the research projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Information developed from the project was distributed to the media and other outlets through video, personal TV and radio interviews, and print media. Identification of pests ants was delivered in workshops and at pest management professional meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The project PI has resigned.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Studies examined the effects of flooding on fire ants and their patterns of distribution. Research continued with evaluations of chemical and non-chemical management strategies.

Publications


    Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Stakeholders include people who live, work and play in or near the waters and the marsh around the Gulf of Mexico. We also serve everyone in the state by investigating reports of invasive ant species such as crazy ants. We have a nationally-known Facebook page with >300 followers. We work directly with people affected by hurricanes, storm surge and oil disasters, including home owners, camp owners, fishers, oyster fishers, and shrimpers. Changes/Problems: Funding limited opportunities,but wehave applied for numerous other grants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Sixundergraduates and two graduate students were trained. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The community wasinformed through presentations at public meetings, and two Facebook pages (one with 4000+ followers and one with 300+ followers). We are in the process of publishing results in open-access journals. Also,presentations were delivered atsix professionalconferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Work will be continued as described.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Numerous infestations of invasive ants were investigated and identified for the public. The most common species was the crazy ant and the second most common was the Argentine ant. Training was provided to Pest Management Professsionals on identification and control of invasive ants. Technical information on crazy ants was distributed to extension professionals. Theeffects ofhurricane Isaac (29 August 2012)were documented bysampling houses and camps in Grand Bayou and near Port Sulphur, La. Information was providedto the homeowners and camp owners as to whether they had oil in their homes/camps. One person had "Macondo" oil in their home. Naphthalene and C1-methylnaphthalene appears to be increasing in marsh sediments. These compounds are native in Macondo oil and increased 1000x after the Macondo blowout. The presence of these compounds help explain the catastrophic impacts of the Macondo blowout on insects in South Louisiana marshes. Combined with the catastrophic effects of 60+ hours of storm surge from Isaac, insects and spiders are suppressed in Louisiana marshes. In collaboration with other faculty, these efforts may also impact the Seaside Sparrow which feeds on insects in the marsh.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Turner, RE, E. Overton, B. Meyer, S. Miles, LM Hooper-Bui, A Summers- Engel, E Swenson, J. Lee, C. Milan. In press. Degradation and recovery trajectory of MC 252 oil in Louisiana marshes. PLos ONE.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Pennings, S., B. McCall, and LM Hooper-Bui. In review. Effects of oil spills on terrestrial arthropods in coastal wetlands. Bioscience. Manuscript #13-0194.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hooper-Bui, LM, NN Rabalais, AS Engel, RE Turner, G McClenachan, B Roberts, EB Overton, D Justic, K Strudivant, K Brown, J Conover. In review. Key insights into the Coastal Effects of the Macondo Blowout from the Coastal Waters Consortium: A GoMRI Consortium. Proceedings of the International Oil Spill Commission. Manuscript #300243.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Chen, X, BJ Adams, C Bergeron, LM Hooper-Bui. In review. Ant community structure and response to disturbances on coastal dunes of Gulf of Mexico. Insect of Conservation. JICO-D-13-00140.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2014 Citation: Turner, RE, E. Overton, B. Meyer, S. Miles, LM Hooper-Bui, A Summers- Engel, E Swenson, J. Lee, C. Milan. In review. Trajectories of alkanes and aromatics in Louisiana marshes after the Macondo blowout. Marine Pollution Bulletin.


    Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

    Outputs
    OUTPUTS: Information developed from the project was distributed to the media and other outlets through video, personal TV and radio interviews, and print media about invasive ants. Identification of pest ants was delivered in workshops and at pest management professional meetings in Baton Rouge, LA. Information on the toxicity of oil to coastal ecosystems was made available to the general public through a periodical publication, two documentaries on the BP oil spill, and a news conference in Grand Isle, LA. Numerous newspaper articles featured our work in Baton Rouge and in New Orleans. A new, alien ant species was discovered and reported in the United States. We investigated the effect of flooding and caffeine on fire ant mound movement. PARTICIPANTS: L. Hooper-Bui (PI), LSU AgCenter; Robert Eugene Turner, Nancy Rabalais, Barry Keim, Michael Pasquier, LSU. TARGET AUDIENCES: General public, Pest Management Professionals, home and land owners. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

    Impacts
    Early discovery and public education about invasive ants may reduce the spread of these ants decreasing control costs. Correct identification of ants reduces the amount of pesticides used, in turn reducing costs and impact of the pesticides on the environment. Preliminary work in the laboratory with liquid baits and with orange oil will eventually provide cost-effective ant management techniques to landowners with pest ants. A better understanding of the effect of flooding on ants and the effect of oil on insects will help to predict the behavior of the ants in disaster situations and minimize the impact of fire ants on humans.

    Publications

    • Lee, AH, and LM Hooper-Bui. 2012. The origin and in situ identification of uncultured gut bacteria in fourth-instar larvae of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 59:27-48.
    • Chen, X, JA MacGown, BJ Adams, KA Parys, RM Strecker, and LM Hooper-Bui. 2012. First record of Pyramica epinotalis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for the United States. Psyche. Doi: 10.1155/2012/850893. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/psyche/2012/850893/.


    Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

    Outputs
    OUTPUTS: This work was featured in a documentary called "Hunting for Oil" produced by Roshini Thinakaran. This documentary was featured at the Starbucks Environmental Film Festival on 20 April 2011 (www.snagfilms.com). Additionally, the work was featured in several newspaper articles (The Advocate, Reveille, etc). I spoke to a local community group (Kiwanis) in February 2011. I participated in the 2011 BP GRI Consortia Kickoff Meeting. New Orleans, La. as an official executive committee representative for the LUMCON GRI. My research was featured in two GRI reports, one by LSU (Matthew Lee) and and another by NGI (John Harding). An additional presentation was delivered to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 1-year Update Workshop. A presentation was delivered to The White House National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology in St. Petersburg, FL. Collaborators (R. Eugene Turner and Nancy Rabalais) and students attended similar meetings and presented research updates. PARTICIPANTS: Hooper-Bui, L. (PI), R.E. Turner, A.S. Engel, B. Fry, P. Stouffer, S. Taylor, E. Overton, J. LePeyre, C. Swarenski, N. Robalais, A. Giblin, LSU AgCenter; R. Eugene Turner, A.S. Engel, B. Fry, B. S. Gupta, D. Justic, Louisiana State University; S. Woltmann, Loyola University; C. Swarzenski, USGS; A. Giblin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; N. Robalais, LUMCON. TARGET AUDIENCES: Residents of coastal US and anyone in an oil production area. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

    Impacts
    Experiments and monitoring activities determined the effect of the oil spill on Louisiana saltwater marshes and coastal dunes. A database and also an extensive collection of representative specimens of insects and spiders from the areas that fringe the Northern Gulf of Mexico is being developed.

    Publications

    • No publications reported this period