The response of ants to climate change
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusoc...
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ftunivpretoria:oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/90484 2023-06-11T04:07:01+02:00 The response of ants to climate change Parr, Catherine Lucy Bishop, Tom R. 2022-05 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90484 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140 en eng Wiley Parr, C.L., & Bishop, T.R. (2022). The response of ants to climate change. Global Change Biology, 28, 3188–3205. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140. 1354-1013 (print) 1365-2486 (online) doi:10.1111/gcb.16140 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90484 © 2022 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. CO2 Eusociality Thermal tolerance Temperature Precipitation Plasticity Physiology Mutualisms Article 2022 ftunivpretoria https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140 2023-05-02T00:24:34Z Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms—their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals. Given the climatic changes that our planet faces, we need to understand how various important taxonomic groups will respond; this includes the ants. In this review, we synthesize the available literature to tackle this question. The answer is complicated. The ant literature has focused on temperature, and we broadly understand the ways in which thermal changes may affect ant colonies, populations, and communities. In general, we expect that species living in the Tropics, and in thermally variable microhabitats, such as the canopy and leaf litter environments, will be negatively impacted by rising temperatures. Species living in the temperate zones and those able to thermally buffer their nests in the soil or behaviorally avoid higher temperatures, however, are likely to be unaffected or may even benefit from a changed climate. How ants will respond to changes to other abiotic drivers associated with climate change is largely unknown, as is the detail on how altered ant populations and communities will ramify through their wider ecological networks. We discuss how eusociality may allow ants to adapt to, or tolerate, climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot and we identify key geographic and phylogenetic hotspots of climate vulnerability and resistance. We finish by emphasizing the key research questions that we need to address moving forward so that we may fully appreciate how this critical insect group will respond to the ongoing climate crisis. http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gcb hj2023 Zoology and Entomology Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica University of Pretoria: UPSpace Frontiers in Microbiology 14 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Pretoria: UPSpace |
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ftunivpretoria |
language |
English |
topic |
CO2 Eusociality Thermal tolerance Temperature Precipitation Plasticity Physiology Mutualisms |
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CO2 Eusociality Thermal tolerance Temperature Precipitation Plasticity Physiology Mutualisms Parr, Catherine Lucy Bishop, Tom R. The response of ants to climate change |
topic_facet |
CO2 Eusociality Thermal tolerance Temperature Precipitation Plasticity Physiology Mutualisms |
description |
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are one of the most dominant terrestrial organisms worldwide. They are hugely abundant, both in terms of sheer numbers and biomass, on every continent except Antarctica and are deeply embedded within a diversity of ecological networks and processes. Ants are also eusocial and colonial organisms—their lifecycle is built on the labor of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals. Given the climatic changes that our planet faces, we need to understand how various important taxonomic groups will respond; this includes the ants. In this review, we synthesize the available literature to tackle this question. The answer is complicated. The ant literature has focused on temperature, and we broadly understand the ways in which thermal changes may affect ant colonies, populations, and communities. In general, we expect that species living in the Tropics, and in thermally variable microhabitats, such as the canopy and leaf litter environments, will be negatively impacted by rising temperatures. Species living in the temperate zones and those able to thermally buffer their nests in the soil or behaviorally avoid higher temperatures, however, are likely to be unaffected or may even benefit from a changed climate. How ants will respond to changes to other abiotic drivers associated with climate change is largely unknown, as is the detail on how altered ant populations and communities will ramify through their wider ecological networks. We discuss how eusociality may allow ants to adapt to, or tolerate, climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot and we identify key geographic and phylogenetic hotspots of climate vulnerability and resistance. We finish by emphasizing the key research questions that we need to address moving forward so that we may fully appreciate how this critical insect group will respond to the ongoing climate crisis. http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gcb hj2023 Zoology and Entomology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Parr, Catherine Lucy Bishop, Tom R. |
author_facet |
Parr, Catherine Lucy Bishop, Tom R. |
author_sort |
Parr, Catherine Lucy |
title |
The response of ants to climate change |
title_short |
The response of ants to climate change |
title_full |
The response of ants to climate change |
title_fullStr |
The response of ants to climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
The response of ants to climate change |
title_sort |
response of ants to climate change |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90484 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
Parr, C.L., & Bishop, T.R. (2022). The response of ants to climate change. Global Change Biology, 28, 3188–3205. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140. 1354-1013 (print) 1365-2486 (online) doi:10.1111/gcb.16140 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/90484 |
op_rights |
© 2022 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16140 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
14 |
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1768379444132577280 |