Trigos-Peral, G. and Maak, I. E. and Schmid, S. and Chudzik, P. and Czaczkes, T. J. and Witek, M. and Casacci, L. P. and Sanchez-Garcia, D. and Lorincz, A. and Kochanowski, M. and Heinze, Jürgen (2024) Urban abiotic stressors drive changes in the foraging activity and colony growth of the black garden ant Lasius niger. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 915: 170157. ISSN 0048-9697, 1879-1026
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Changes in habitat characteristics are known to have profound effects on biotic communities and their functional traits. In the context of an urban-rural gradient, urbanisation drastically alters abiotic characteristics, e.g., by increasing environmental temperatures and through light pollution. These abiotic changes significantly impact the functional traits of organisms, particularly insects. Furthermore, changes in habitat characteristics also drive changes in the behavioural traits of animals, allowing them to adapt and thrive in new environments. In our study, we focused on the synanthropic ant species Lasius niger as a model organism. We conducted nocturnal field observations and complemented them with laboratory experiments to investigate the influence of night warming (NW) associated with Urban Heat Islands (UHI), light pollution (ALAN), and habitat type on ant foraging behaviour. In addition, we investigated the influence of elevated temperatures on brood development and worker mortality. Our findings revealed that urban populations of L. niger were generally more active during the night compared to their rural counterparts, although the magnitude of this difference varied with specific city characteristics. In laboratory settings, higher temperatures and continuous illumination were associated with increased activity level in ants, again differing between urban and rural populations. Rural ants exhibited more locomotion compared to their urban counterparts when maintained under identical conditions, which might enable them to forage more effectively in a potentially more challenging environment. High temperatures decreased the developmental time of brood from both habitat types and increased worker mortality, although rural colonies were more strongly affected. Overall, our study provides novel insights into the influence of urban environmental stressors on the foraging activity pattern and colony development of ants. Such stressors can be important for the establishment and spread of synanthropic ant species, including invasive ones, and the biotic homogenization of anthropogenic ecosystems.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | THERMAL LIMITS; LIGHT; URBANIZATION; TEMPERATURE; SIZE; POPULATIONS; TOLERANCE; IMPACT; NIGHT; Urbanisation; Functional traits; Night warming; Artificial illumination; Larval development; Locomotion |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heinze) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Dec 2025 07:08 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Dec 2025 07:08 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/64668 |
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