Ants and Climate Change

Research project involving Bowling Green State University biologist Dr. Shannon Pelini tested the forest ant communities’ tolerance towards climate change. The team put heaters around the forest floor and warmed the ant communities to see what would happen. In warmer chambers, there was more occupancy of heat-loving ants. Typically, ant colonies are constantly competing with each other for prime nest habitat, which promotes resilience to environmental changes within the community. When one ant species, like the heat-lovers, remains in a nest for a long time, there is less resilience in the community and so it is more likely to fall apart following a disturbance event. The research performed by Sanders and his colleges in North Carolina also suggest that if the temperature increases by just a half a degree Celsius, the most important seed-dispersing ants basically shut down,” said Sanders. “They do not go out and forage and do the things they normally do.” The absence of ants’ seed dispersal and nutrient cycling could have profound influence on biodiversity.

source:
“UT Study: Climate Change Affects Ants and Biodiversity.” Tennessee Today, 14 Nov. 2011.

Pelini, Shannon. “Biologist's ant research provides long-Term look at effects of climate change.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 30 Dec. 2016.

Publicado el diciembre 10, 2017 08:58 MAÑANA por kt_n