LAUSR

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta; hereafter RIFA) is an invasive predator found on four continents, namely South America, North America, Australia, and Asia. Red imported fire ants are implicated in the decline of native invertebrates and vertebrates throughout their invaded range. We used the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) as a model species to understand the influence of RIFAs on native reptiles in the southeastern United States. Our objective was to quantify the effects of RIFAs on fence lizard recruitment and survival. We experimentally stocked populations of fence lizards into eight enclosures with either ambient or reduced numbers of RIFAs from May 2012 to October 2013. Fitting Link-Barker models, we found that the RIFA treatment affected fence lizard recruitment (f), but not survival (Φ). Recruitment was 1.6 times greater in the enclosures with reduced numbers of RIFAs than in those with ambient numbers. Red imported fire ants likely affect reptiles with analogous life history strategies to those of fence lizards similarly. Consequently, RIFAs may have undesirable consequences for the biodiversity of reptiles in the southeastern United States and on other continents with established RIFA populations.