David Holway
Associate Professor of Biology, UCSD

e-mail: dholway@ucsd.edu
Lab Homepage

     Biological invasions provide a wealth of opportunities for research in ecology, behavior and evolution. Ecological communities, for example, differ greatly in the extent to which they become invaded; some appear relatively immune to invasion, whereas others undergo transformation. Developing a comprehensive understanding of the factors governing community-level vulnerability to invasion remains an outstanding challenge in ecology and one of tremendous importance given that non-native species jeopardize ecosystems worldwide. Invasions also offer unique opportunities to study biotic interactions. Invasions that result in the rapid displacement of native species offer rare glimpses of competitive exclusion and can be used to isolate mechanisms responsible for competitive dominance.

      By integrating an understanding of ecology, behavior and genetics and by employing a diversity of experimental approaches, we aim to develop a more mechanistic understanding of the causes and consequences of invasions. We are using Argentine ants, red imported fire ants, and western yellow jacket wasps to investigate the factors that influence community-level susceptibility to invasion, the mechanisms involved in the displacement of native species, and other ecological effects that occur following invasion. One current research focus addresses how interactions between invasive ants and honeydew-producing Hemiptera contribute to the success of ant invasions.

     Tillberg, C.V., D.A. Holway, E.G. LeBrun & A.V. Suarez. (2007). Trophic ecology of Argentine ants in their native and introduced ranges. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104:20856-20861.

     Menke, S.B., R.N. Fisher, W. Jetz & D.A. Holway. (2007). Biotic and abiotic controls of Argentine ant invasion success at local and landscape scales. Ecology 88:3164-3175.

     Grover, C.D., A.D. Kay, J.A. Monson, T.C. Marsh & D.A. Holway. (2007). Linking nutrition and behavioral dominance: carbohydrate scarcity limits aggression and activity in Argentine ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B 274:2951-2957.

     LeBrun, E.G., C.V. Tillberg, A.V. Suarez, P. Folgarait, C.R. Smith & D.A. Holway. (2007). An experimental study of competition between fire ants and Argentine ants in their native range. Ecology 88: 63-75 (Cover article.)

     Thomas, M.L., C.M. Payne, A.V. Suarez, N.D. Tsutsui & D.A. Holway.. (2006). When supercolonies collide: territorial aggression in an invasive and unicolonial social insect. Molecular Ecology 15:4303-4315.

     Menke, S.B. & D.A. Holway. (2006). Abiotic factors control invasion by ants at the community scale. Journal of Animal Ecology 75:368-376.

     Holway, D.A. & A.V. Suarez. (2006). Homogenization of ant communities in mediterranean California: the effects of urbanization and invasion. Biological Conservation 127:319-326.

     Suarez, A.V., D.A. Holway & P.S. Ward. (2005). The role of opportunity in the unintentional introduction of non-native ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102:17032-17035. (Cover article.)

     Schilman, P.E., J.R.B. Lighton & D.A. Holway. (2005). Respiratory and cuticular water loss in insects with continuous gas exchange: comparison across five ant species. Journal of Insect Physiology 51:1295-1305.

     Thomas, M.L, N.D. Tsutsui & D.A. Holway. (2005). Intraspecific competition influences the symmetry and intensity of aggression in the invasive Argentine ant. Behavioral Ecology 16:472-481.

     Holway, D.A. (2005). Edge effects of an invasive species across a natural ecological boundary. Biological Conservation 121:561-567.

     Thomas, M.L. & D.A. Holway. (2005). Condition-dependent competition between invasive Argentine ants and Australian Iridomyrmex. Journal of Animal Ecology 74:532-542.

     Lighton, J.R.B., P.E. Schilman & D.A. Holway. (2004). The hyperoxic switch: assessing respiratory water loss rates in tracheate arthropods with continuous gas exchange. Journal of Experimental Biology 207:4463-4471.

     Holway, D.A. & A.V. Suarez. (2004). Colony structure variation and interspecific competitive ability in the invasive Argentine ant. Oecologia 138:216-222.

     Carney, S.E., M.B. Byerley & D.A. Holway. (2003). Invasive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) do not replace native ants as seed dispersers of Dendromecon rigida (Papaveraceae) in California, USA. Oecologia 135:576-582.

     Suarez, A.V., D.A. Holway, D.S. Liang, N.D. Tsutsui & T.J. Case. (2002). Spatio-temporal patterns of intraspecific aggression in the invasive Argentine ant. Animal Behaviour 64: 697-708.

     Holway, D.A., L. Lach, A.V. Suarez, N.D. Tsutsui & T.J. Case. (2002). The causes and consequences of ant invasions. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics 33:181-233.

     Holway, D.A., A.V. Suarez & T.J. Case. (2002). Role of abiotic factors in governing susceptibility to invasion: a test with Argentine ants. Ecology 83:1610-1619.

David Holway received a B.A. in zoology from UC Berkeley in 1989 and a Ph.D in biology from the University of Utah in 1997. His postdoctoral research at UC San Diego was supported by grants from the US Department of Agriculture.