In 2022, research by the University of Liverpool on the response of ants to climate change provided new insights into the effects of climate change on ant populations. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images)
They’re a globally important insect group found on every continent except Antarctica — and they are great indicators of climate change.
Charlene Janion-Scheepers, a terrestrial invertebrate ecologist and physiologist and senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town, was referring to ants.
“We are working on a project in the Cederberg investigating how — or if — ants have changed over 20 years, and if this is due to climate change,” she said.
In 2022, research by the University of Liverpool on the response of ants to climate change provided new insights into the effects of climate change on ant populations.
Ants are one of the most dominant insects in the world and play a significant role in ecological networks and processes, yet their ability to respond to changes to the climate is largely unknown”, the researchers noted.
The researchers reviewed the published academic literature and studies relating mainly to ants and their responses to changes in temperature.
Ants are social insects that form complex and highly organised colonies. Their lifecycle is built on the work of sterile worker ants who support a small number of reproductive individuals. This social structure will enable them to adapt to or tolerate climate change in ways that solitary organisms cannot.
Species that nest underground where they can move their brood to lower temperatures are more protected and, conversely, some ants can benefit from elevated temperature, especially those in temperate regions, the research found.
How climate change affects ant populations and the wider effects this will have on the ecosystem is not well understood, noted the study’s lead author, University of Liverpool ecologist Professor Kate Parr.
“Ants are the most dominant insect in almost all ecosystems and play key roles in many ecosystem processes so any changes to their abundance and loss of some species will therefore have cascading consequences through the ecosystem,” Parr said.
“Our research highlights those species and regions at risk from climate change but also those that may be capable of adapting to it. However, further research is needed in particular to better understand how ants respond to altered precipitation, carbon dioxide, or UV [ultraviolet] regimes and how this affects the wider ecosystem.”
Furthermore, how these climatic changes will break up through the complex food and mutualistic webs within which ants are embedded is largely unknown, “but we anticipate that they may be profound”, the researchers said.
“We know the most about the thermal response of ants. In this case, we expect that tropical species, particularly those living in the litter of canopy microhabitats, will be more vulnerable to rising temperatures. Elsewhere in the world, and for those species which can exploit their eusociality behaviorally to avoid increased temperatures for large parts of their developmental and foraging activities, we anticipate minimal impacts or even benefits.”
The researchers expect the patterns of ant diversity and community structure will be altered. “It is these changes that we urge a focus on, particularly in the context of ecosystem function. Only then we can predict and begin to mitigate the climatic impacts on this important group of insects.”
“I think as concerning as climate change is the impact of other global drivers such as invasive species. Invasive species can have severe impacts on local ants and can in some cases disrupt ecosystem function,” Janion-Scheepers added, pointing to recent research that showed how invasive ants can even affect the ability of lions to hunt in Kenya.