Thermal diversity of North American ant communities: Cold tolerance but not heat tolerance tracks ecosystem temperature

Bujan, Jelena; Roeder, Karl A.; Beurs, Kirsten M. de; Weiser, Michael D.; Kaspari, Michael

doi:10.1111/geb.13121

Cited by 47 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Explained deviance for patterns of relative abundance was, however, generally low across both sets of data. Our findings contrast with those for other insects where critical limits are related to geographic range (García‐Robledo et al., 2016; Sheldon & Tewksbury, 2014), but build on a growing understanding of the complexity of the relationship between critical limits and abundance and occupancy of ants (Bujan, Roeder, de Beurs, et al., 2020; Guo et al., 2020), which may also apply to ectotherms more broadly. Previous work has shown that in ants the relationship between critical limits and geographic range varies between local and global scales (Diamond & Chick, 2018; Nowrouzi et al., 2018).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

“…Previous work has shown that in ants the relationship between critical limits and geographic range varies between local and global scales (Diamond & Chick, 2018; Nowrouzi et al., 2018). The relationship between environmental temperature and interspecific variation in occupancy and abundance has also been shown to depend on how likely environmental temperatures are to approach critical limits of a given species, either at the upper or lower ends (Bishop et al., 2017; Bujan, Roeder, de Beurs, et al., 2020; Diamond, Nichols, et al., 2012; Stuble, Pelini, et al., 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Temperature Thermal niche type between critical limits and abundance and occupancy of ants (Bujan, Roeder, de Beurs, et al, 2020;Guo et al, 2020), which may also apply to ectotherms more broadly. Previous work has shown that in ants the relationship between critical limits and geographic range varies between local and global scales (Diamond & Chick, 2018;Nowrouzi et al, 2018).…”

Section: Realisedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Realised rather than fundamental thermal niches predict site occupancy: Implications for climate change forecasting

Braschler

Duffy

Nortje

et al. 2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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1. Thermal performance traits are regularly used to make forecasts of the responses of ectotherms to anthropogenic environmental change, but such forecasts do not always differentiate between fundamental and realised thermal niches. 2. Here we determine the relative extents to which variation in the fundamental and realised thermal niches accounts for current variation in species abundance and occupancy and assess the effects of niche-choice on future-climate response estimations. 3. We investigated microclimate and macroclimate temperatures alongside abundance, occupancy, critical thermal limits and foraging activity of 52 ant species (accounting for >95% individuals collected) from a regional assemblage from across the Western Cape Province, South Africa, between 2003 and 2014. 4. Capability of a species to occupy sites experiencing the most extreme temperatures, coupled with breadth of realised niche, explained most deviance in occupancy (up to 75%), while foraging temperature range and body mass explained up to 50.5% of observed variation in mean species abundance. 5. When realised niches are used to forecast responses to climate change, large positive and negative effects among species are predicted under future conditions, in contrast to the forecasts of minimal impacts on all species that are indicated by fundamental niche predictions.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Realisedmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Realised rather than fundamental thermal niches predict site occupancy: Implications for climate change forecasting

Braschler

Duffy

Nortje

et al. 2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Critical thermal limits (CTs) are temperatures at which animals lose muscle control (Lutterschmidt & Hutchison, 1997). To measure CTs, we used chilling/heating dry bath (Torrey Pines Scientific EchoTherm™ IC50; advertised accuracy ±0.2°C) and a standardized protocol for recording ant thermal limits (Bujan, Roeder, Beurs, et al., 2020). In this dynamic protocol, five workers per colony are individually tested.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased acclimation ability accompanies a thermal niche shift of a recent invasion

Bujan

Charavel

Bates

et al. 2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Globalization is removing dispersal barriers for the establishment of invasive species and enabling their spread to novel climates. New thermal environments in the invaded range will be particularly challenging for ectotherms, as their metabolism directly depends on environmental temperature. However, we know little about the role climatic niche shifts play in the invasion process, and the underlining physiological mechanisms. We tested if a thermal niche shift accompanies an invasion, and if native and introduced populations differ in their ability to acclimate thermal limits. We used an alien ant species—Tapinoma magnum—which recently started to spread across Europe. Using occurrence data and accompanying climatic variables, we measured the amount of overlap between thermal niches in the native and invaded range. We then experimentally tested the acclimation ability in native and introduced populations by incubating T. magnum at 18, 25 and 30°C. We measured upper and lower critical thermal limits after 7 and 21 days. We found that T. magnum occupies a distinct thermal niche in its introduced range, which is on average 3.5°C colder than its native range. Critical thermal minimum did not differ between populations from the two ranges when colonies were maintained at 25 or 30°C, but did differ after colony acclimation at a lower temperature. We found twofold greater acclimation ability of introduced populations to lower temperatures, after prolonged incubation at 18°C. Increased acclimation ability of lower thermal limits could explain the expansion of the realized thermal niche in the invaded range, and likely contributed to the spread of this species to cooler climates. Such thermal plasticity could be an important, yet so far understudied, factor underlying the expansion of invasive insects into novel climates.

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“…Ectotherm heat tolerance exhibited strong phylogenetic conservatism in most studies, including ants (Diamond & Chick, 2018; Bujan et al , 2020), fruit flies (Kellermann et al ,2012a), or lizards (Grigg & Buckley, 2013). In contrast, other studies retrieved no evidence for a relationship between phylogeny and thermal tolerance (Bishop et al , 2017; Nowakowski et al , 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Thermal maximum measurements and its biological relevance: the case of ants

Leong

Tsang

Guénard

2020

Preprint

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Upper thermal limit (UTL) is a key trait in evaluating ectotherm fitness. Critical Thermal maximum CTmax, often used to characterize the UTL of an organism in laboratory setting, needs to be accurate to characterize this significant and field-relevant threshold. The lack of standardization in CTmax assays has, however, introduce methodological problems in its measurement and incorrect estimation of species upper thermal limit; with potential major implications on the use of CTmax in forecasting community dynamics under climate change. In this study we ask if a satisfactory ramping rate can be identified to produce accurate measures of CTmax for multiple species.We first identified the most commonly used ramping rates (i.e. 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 °Cmin−1) based on a literature review, and determined the ramping rate effects on CTmax value measurements in 27 ant species (7 arboreal, 16 ground, 4 subterranean species) from eight subfamilies using both dynamic and static assays. In addition, we used field observations on multiple species foraging activity in function of ground temperatures to identify the most biologically relevant CTmax value to ultimately develop a standardized methodological approach.Integrating dynamic and static assays provided a powerful approach to identify a suitable ramping rate for the measurements of CTmax values in ants. Our results also showed that among the values tested the ramping rate of 1 °Cmin−1 is optimal, with convergent evidences from CTmax values measured in laboratory and from foraging thermal maximum measured in the field. Finally, we illustrate how methodological bias in terms of physiological trait measurements can also affect the detection of phylogenetic signal (Pagel’s λ and Bloomberg’s K) in subsequent analyses.Overall, this study presents a methodological framework allowing the identification of suitable and standardized ramping rates for the measurement of ant CTmax, which may be used for other ectotherms. Particular attention should be given to CTmax values retrieved from less suitable ramping rate, and the potential biases that functional trait based research may induce on topics such as global warming, habitat conversion or their impacts on analytical interpretations on phylogenetic conservatism.

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Thermal diversity of North American ant communities: Cold tolerance but not heat tolerance tracks ecosystem temperature

Cited by 47 publications

References 60 publications

Realised rather than fundamental thermal niches predict site occupancy: Implications for climate change forecasting

Realised rather than fundamental thermal niches predict site occupancy: Implications for climate change forecasting

Increased acclimation ability accompanies a thermal niche shift of a recent invasion

Critical Thermal maximum measurements and its biological relevance: the case of ants

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