Ants in Gregory Canyon in Boulder, Colorado. Credit: Anna Paraskevopoulos/CU Boulder
Key points:
- Researchers replicated a previous ant population survey in Gregory Canyon to identify the impact of climate change on ant communities.
- Ant species that foraged across a broader temperature range were more widespread than species that foraged across a narrower temperature range.
- In response to climate change, ant species are changing their habitat ranges, which may impact biodiversity and local ecosystem stability.
A new study, published in Ecology, details how climate change has forced certain ant species that are unable to tolerate higher temperatures out of their original habitats. The findings help scientists determine the impacts on biodiversity and local ecosystems.
Because ants are ectothermic and sensitive to temperature fluctuations, they are a good model system to study the impact of climate change on ecosystems. More than six decades ago, a research group surveyed ant populations in Gregory Canyon near Boulder, Colorado. In the current study, researchers returned to Gregory Canyon to investigate changes to the ant community. They collected hundreds of ant samples from the same survey sites on approximately the same dates as the original study.
Researchers found that while the total number of ant species in Gregory Canyon increased from the 1969 study, several species expanded their habitats to a broader region and now dominated the sites. Interestingly, some other ants previously observed had become less widespread or were even undetected, including 12 ant species that had become hard to find.
Their survey revealed that ant species that foraged across a broader temperature range were more widespread than species that foraged across a narrowed temperature range. These narrow range species may be sensitive to temperature changes or face increased competition from other species that expanded their habitat.
Different ant species likely play unique roles in the ecosystem ranging from dispersing seeds to preying on specific bugs. Further research is needed to investigate how changes in ant populations in Gregory Canyon affect the local ecosystem and its stability.
“In response to climate change, species are changing the ranges where they’re occurring,” said senior author Julian Resasco, professor at University of Colorado at Boulder. “Some of them are spreading and becoming winners, while others are crashing and becoming losers. This work helps us understand how those communities reshuffle, which could have implications on how ecosystems function.”