Effects of an invasive ant on land snails in the Ogasawara Islands

We investigated how Pheidole megacephala has affected endemic achatinellid snails because these snails are excellent indicators of the impact of ants and they have high conservation value in Ogasawara. In 2015 we surveyed the Minamizaki area of Hahajima Island of Ogasawara, designated a core zone of the World Heritage Site, for P. megacephala. In Minamizaki, we determined the distribution and density of achatinellid snails in 2015 and compared these data with their distribution and density in 2005. Land cover in the survey area was entirely forest. We also tested whether P. megacephala preyed on achatinellid snails in the laboratory. P. megacephala was present in the forested areas of Minamizaki. Achatinellid snails were absent in 19 of 39 sites where P. megacephala was present, whereas in other areas densities of the snails ranged from 2 to 228 individuals/site. In the laboratory, P. megacephala carried 6 of 7 achatinellid snails and a broken shell was found. Snail distribution and density comparisons and results of the feeding experiments suggest that the presence of P. megacephala has contributed to the decline of achatinellid snails in forests in the survey area. Yet, P. megacephala is not on the official list of invasive non‐native species. Stakeholders using the list of invasive species to develop conservation programs should recognize that invasiveness of non‐native species differs depending on the ecosystem and that official lists may not be complete.     

Coprecipitation mechanisms of Zn by birnessite formation and its mineralogy under neutral pH conditions

Birnessite (δ-Mn(IV)O₂) is a great manganese (Mn) adsorbent for dissolved divalent metals. In this study, we investigated the coprecipitation mechanism of δ-MnO₂ in the presence of Zn(II) and an oxidizing agent (sodium hypochlorite) under two neutral pH values (6.0 and 7.5). The mineralogical characteristics and Zn–Mn mixed products were compared with simple surface complexation by adsorption modeling and structural analysis. Batch coprecipitation experiments at different Zn/Mn molar ratios showed a Langmuir-type isotherm at pH 6.0, which was similar to the result of adsorption experiments at pH 6.0 and 7.5. X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption fine structure analysis revealed triple-corner-sharing inner-sphere complexation on the vacant sites was the dominant Zn sorption mechanism on δ-MnO₂ under these experimental conditions. A coprecipitation experiment at pH 6.0 produced some hetaerolite (ZnMn(III)₂O₄) and manganite (γ-Mn(III)OOH), but only at low Zn/Mn molar ratios (< 1). These secondary precipitates disappeared because of crystal dissolution at higher Zn/Mn molar ratios because they were thermodynamically unstable. Woodruffite (ZnMn(IV)₃O₇•2H₂O) was produced in the coprecipitation experiment at pH 7.5 with a high Zn/Mn molar ratio of 5. This resulted in a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET)-type sorption isotherm, in which formation was explained by transformation of the crystalline structure of δ-MnO₂ to a tunnel structure. Our experiments demonstrate that abiotic coprecipitation reactions can induce Zn–Mn compound formation on the δ-MnO₂ surface, and that the pH is an important controlling factor for the crystalline structures and thermodynamic stabilities.