Joshua King

• Professor (Associate) at University of Central Florida

Global change drivers such as habitat fragmentation, species invasion, and climate warming can act synergistically upon native systems; however, global change drivers can be neutralized if they induce antagonistic interactions in ecological communities. Deadwood comprises a considerable portion of forest carbon, and it functions as refuge, nesting...

Trait‐based ecology has surged in recent decades but a framework to assess eusocial taxa, such as ants and termites, has been left underdeveloped because ecological trait‐based approaches have yet to examine the ecological relationships and potential mechanisms between different trait components (i.e. queen, colony and worker). We collected worker‐...

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) may disrupt biological control of hibiscus mealybug (Nipaecoccus viridis) in Florida citrus. Controlling S. invicta may therefore be necessary for effective management of hibiscus mealybug. We evaluated four different methods to control S. invicta (ground applications of insecticide, two different inse...

An important service in many ecosystems is the turnover and degradation of dung deposited by cattle. Dung beetles are the primary group of insects responsible for dung turnover, and factors affecting their abundance and distribution thus impact dung degradation. Lands lost to grazing due to dung buildup and pasture contamination total millions of a...

Standing dead trees (snags) decompose more slowly than downed dead wood and provide critical habitat for many species. The rate at which snags fall therefore influences forest carbon dynamics and biodiversity. Fall rates correlate strongly with mean annual temperature, presumably because warmer climates facilitate faster wood decomposition and henc...

The twin flagged jumping spider, Anasaitis canosa (Walckenaer) (Araneae: Salticidae) is a common ant-predating spider whose diet has been quantified previously only in the laboratory. We investigated the diet of this spider species in the field, as well as approximated its abundance in the observation area. During 30 d of observation, A. canosa occ...

Exotic invasive species are one of the most widespread and common agents of change in ecosystems worldwide. Here, we are focused on community-level changes associated with the appearance and persistence of exotic species in an ecosystem over more than 2 decades. We combined datasets of Florida's ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) community from Wekiwa S...

Ants are a widespread group of ecologically important insects. Therefore, ants that are important predators of other ants are likely to play key roles by changing the abundance and impacts of their prey. Familiar arthropod predators, like army ants, are known for their overwhelming raids on invertebrate prey but are limited to mostly tropical syste...

Habitat disturbance has been found to facilitate the introduction of a wide range of species, including the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Despite the link between S. invicta colonization and disturbance, little is known about how different intensities or types of disturbance might impact S. in...

Ant communities are structured, in part, by competition between related and unrelated ant species for territories and food resources. In eastern deciduous forests of the United States, a single ant genus (Aphaenogaster) appears ecologically dominant with high abundance and opportunistic foraging. However, Aphaenogaster ants are not particularly beh...

1. Some interactions previously described as mutualistic were revealed to be commensal or parasitic in subsequent investigations. Ant‐mediated seed dispersal has been described as a mutualism for more than a century; however, recent research suggests that it may be commensal or parasitic. Plants demonstrably benefit from ant‐mediated seed dispersal...

Although rarely considered as a saproxylic insect group, ants are an important, highly abundant insect taxon in dead wood environments worldwide. Ants directly impact the dead wood environment primarily through nesting in standing dead trees, logs, stumps, and coarse and fine woody materials, contributing to the physical breakdown of woody material...

Subterranean ant communities are vastly understudied relative to aboveground ant communities. The thief ants of the genus Solenopsis are a globally abundant and widespread group that is a conspicuous and important part of the below ground ant community. Thief ant ecology, including their distribution and diversity at local scales, has also rarely b...

The language that scientists use to frame biological invasions may reveal inherent bias—including how data are interpreted. A frequent critique of invasion biology is the use of value-laden language that may indicate context bias. Here we use a systematic study of language and interpretation in papers drawn from invasion biology to evaluate whether...

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses 2009 checklist. (DOC)

Ants are probably the most dominant insect family on earth, and flowering plants have been the dominant plant group on land for more than 100 million years. In recent decades, human activities have degraded natural environments with unparalleled speed and scale, making it increasingly apparent that interspecific interactions vary not only under dif...

Inventor: Joshua R. King. “Environmentally safe insect control system.” US Patent Office Application Serial Number 15/165,104 filed 5/26/2016. A machine that safely generates large volumes of hot water for control of target insect species. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYc7icTWUOk&feature=youtu.be

A key shortcoming in our understanding of exotic species' success is that it is not known how post- introduction dispersal contributes to the success of exotic species and the reassembly of invaded communities. Exotic and native species face poorly understood competition-colonization trade- offs in heterogeneous landscapes of natural and anthropoge...

Invasive species generally occur and thrive in human-disturbed ecosystems, but Brachyponera chinensis (Asian needle ant, formerly ‘Pachycondyla chinensis’) also invades intact forests. The invasion into native habitats potentially puts B. chinensis in direct competition with the keystone seed-dispersing ants in the genus Aphaenogaster. We observed...

1. Wood decomposition in temperate forests is dominated by termites, fungi, and some species of ants and beetles. Outside of urban areas, temperate termite ecology is largely unknown, particularly when compared to tropical termites and other temperate organisms in the functional guild of wood‐decomposing animals. 2. This review combines climate hab...

Decomposition of organic matter strongly influences ecosystem carbon storage(1). In Earth-system models, climate is a predominant control on the decomposition rates of organic matter(2-5). This assumption is based on the mean response of decomposition to climate, yet there is a growing appreciation in other areas of global change science that proje...

Myrmecochory is a facultative, mutualistic interaction in which ants receive a protein-rich food reward (elaiosome) in return for dispersing plant seeds. In North American northeastern hardwood forests, Aphaenogaster ants are the primary genus dispersing myrmecochorous plants. In these forests, myrmecochores occur in plant guilds of understory spri...

Ant queen dispersal after mating flights is poorly understood. We will outline the results of our experiments on the dispersal of queens of numerous ant species in the ecosystems of north Florida.

King, J. R. 2007: Patterns of co-occurrence and body size overlap among ants in Florida's upland ecosystems. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 44: 189–201. Within ant communities, competitive asymmetry is hypothesized to dictate, in part, the co-occurrence patterns of species. I intensively sampled ant communities from 5 upland ecosystem types in Florida, USA....

The growing emphasis on including invertebrates in global biodiversity conservation efforts has prompted an increase in the study of invertebrate assemblages. Invertebrate sampling designs and the bias of individual methods, nevertheless, remain poorly understood for a variety of habitats. We used a structured inventory approach to sampling ants in...

Collectors use a variety of concentrations and types of alcohols to preserve ant specimens. We evaluated existing literature, experimental evidence, and expert myrmecological advice to determine what kind and concentration of alcohol will result in the best preserved specimens for card-point mounting and DNA extraction. For our experimental evaluat...

A functional group model of ant community composition has been widely used in Australia to analyse biogeographical patterns of ant community structure and the responses of ant communities to disturbance. The model has provided valuable support to the widespread use of ant communities as bioindicators of ecological change. However, the model was dev...