Feb

28

2007
 
 

Hot in the city



leafcutter antLeafcutter ants will cope with global warming, urban study shows

Leafcutter ants Atta sexdens living in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, can tolerate higher temperatures than their rural counterparts, according to a study published this week. The urban jungle can be as much as 12 degrees C hotter than the countryside, making it a great testing ground for understanding how life might cope with future climate change, say the study’s authors, an international team led by Indiana State University’s Michael Angilletta Jr. It’s not clear whether the ant’s increased ability to stand the heat is genetically based or down to “heat hardening”, but the result is the same: some day, ants will indeed take over the world :) .

Source: Angilletta MJ Jr, Wilson RS, Niehaus AC, Sears MW, Navas CA & Ribeiro PL (2007) Urban physiology: city ants possess high heat tolerance. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000258

Image © Andre Nantel

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Filed Under Climate change, Habitat | 

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