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The Effect Of Urbanization And Temperature On Thermal Tolerance, Foraging Performance, And Competition In Cavity-Dwelling Ants, Brooke A. Harris, Dale Stevens, Kaitlyn A. Mathis
The Effect Of Urbanization And Temperature On Thermal Tolerance, Foraging Performance, And Competition In Cavity-Dwelling Ants, Brooke A. Harris, Dale Stevens, Kaitlyn A. Mathis
Biology
Human disturbance including rapid urbanization and increased temperatures can have profound effects on the ecology of local populations. Eusocial insects, such as ants, have adapted to stressors of increasing temperature and urbanization; however, these evolutionary responses are not consistent among populations across geographic space. Here we asked how urbanization and incubation temperature influence critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and various ecologically relevant behaviors in three ant species in urban and rural locations in Worcester, MA, USA. We did this by incubating colonies of three species of cavity dwelling ant (Aphaenogaster picea, Tapinoma sessile, and Temnothorax longispinosus) from 2 habitat …