Climatic warming destabilizes forest ant communities

Diamond, Sarah E.; Nichols, Lauren M.; Pelini, Shannon L.; Penick, Clint A.; Barber, Grace W.; Cahan, Sara Helms; Dunn, Robert R.; Ellison, Aaron M.; Sanders, Nathan J.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600842

Climatic warming destabilizes forest ant communities

Journal Article · Wed Oct 26 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Science Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600842· OSTI ID:1536829

Diamond, Sarah E. ^[1]; Nichols, Lauren M. ^[2]; Pelini, Shannon L. ^[3]; Penick, Clint A. ^[2]; ^[4]; Cahan, Sara Helms ^[5]; Dunn, Robert R. ^[6]; ^[7]; Sanders, Nathan J. ^[8]; Gotelli, Nicholas J. ^[5]

Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States). Dept. of Biology; DOE/OSTI
North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Applied Ecology
Bowling Green State Univ., OH (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences
Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). Dept. of Environmental Conservation; Harvard Univ., Petersham, MA (United States). Harvard Forest
Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT (United States). Dept. of Biology
North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Applied Ecology; Univ. of Copenhagen (Denmark). Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate
Harvard Univ., Petersham, MA (United States). Harvard Forest
Univ. of Copenhagen (Denmark). Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate

How will ecological communities change in response to climate warming? Direct effects of temperature and indirect cascading effects of species interactions are already altering the structure of local communities, but the dynamics of community change are still poorly understood. We explore the cumulative effects of warming on the dynamics and turnover of forest ant communities that were warmed as part of a 5-year climate manipulation experiment at two sites in eastern North America. At the community level, warming consistently increased occupancy of nests and decreased extinction and nest abandonment. This consistency was largely driven by strong responses of a subset of thermophilic species at each site. As colonies of thermophilic species persisted in nests for longer periods of time under warmer temperatures, turnover was diminished, and species interactions were likely altered. We found that dynamical (Lyapunov) community stability decreased with warming both within and between sites. These results refute null expectations of simple temperature-driven increases in the activity and movement of thermophilic ectotherms. The reduction in stability under warming contrasts with the findings of previous studies that suggest resilience of species interactions to experimental and natural warming. In the face of warmer, no-analog climates, communities of the future may become increasingly fragile and unstable.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-08ER64510

OSTI ID:: 1536829

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 2; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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dynamical stability
experimental warming
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Climatic warming destabilizes forest ant communities

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