Insects in temperate urban parks face stronger selection pressure from the cold than the heat.

ABSTRACT: Urban areas experience higher temperatures compared to rural areas and as such, are increasingly considered places of acclimatization and adaptation to warming. Small ectotherms, such as insects, whose body temperature rises with habitat temperature, are directly affected by temperature changes. Thus, warming could have a profound effect on insect behavior and physiology. To test if the urban heat island effect drives higher thermal tolerance and activity changes, we used globally distributed and abundant insects-ants. We measured the heat and cold tolerance of 14 ant species distributed across urban and peri-urban areas. As thermal traits are often correlated with ant foraging, we measured foraging activity during three consecutive years across eight sites. Contrary to our prediction, ant

SUBMITTER: Bujan J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11333530 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature