Characterization of the thermal tolerances of forest ants of New England |
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Authors: | E?W?Oberg I?Del?Toro Email author" target="_blank">S?L?PeliniEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USA;(2) Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA 01366, USA;(3) Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA;(4) Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA; |
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Abstract: | Characterization of thermal tolerances of ants, which are both abundant and important in most terrestrial ecosystems, is needed
since thermal constraints can inform how a species may respond to local climatic change. Here we identified the thermal tolerances
of 16 common ant species of the Northeastern United States and determined relationships between body size, desiccation, and
thermal tolerance among species. We hypothesized that maximum heat tolerances of these species would differ and be related
to body size and capacity to resist desiccation. We identified four distinct groups of species belonging to one of three subfamilies,
Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, or Myrmicinae, with different maximum thermal tolerances. Group “a” had a mean thermal tolerance
of approximately 43°C (±1°C), group “b” had a mean thermal tolerance of 40°C (±1°C), group “c” had a mean thermal tolerance
of 38°C (±0°C), and group “d” had a mean thermal tolerance of 36°C (±0°C). Groups “a” and “d” consisted of a single species
(in the subfamilies Myrmicinae and Formicinae, respectively), while groups “b” and “c” were a mix of species in the subfamilies
Myrmicinae, Formicinae, and Dolichoderinae. In the subfamily Formicinae, thermal tolerance increased with body size and critical
water content, a metric of desiccation tolerance. In contrast, in the subfamily Myrmicinae, higher thermal tolerance was correlated
with intermediate body size and lower critical water content. These findings suggest that the two dominant subfamilies in
Northeastern deciduous forests have different relationships between body size, capacity to tolerate desiccation, and thermal
tolerances across species. This variation in thermal tolerance suggests that climatic change may impact species differently. |
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