Researchers studied several ant colonies along Gregory Canyon and say this study is a small piece of explaining how climate change affects ecosystems.
Ants are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature is heavily dependent on the environment. As a result, they're heavily sensitive to temperature fluctuations.at the University of Colorado Boulder. Researchers there were able to look at data taken in a 60-plus-year time span and see how certain ant species were forced out of the original habitats along Gregory Canyon in Boulder.
"We looked at how ant communities have changed locally over time and we essentially found that there were more similarities in terms of the ant species that were present in the community than there was historically," said Anna Paraskevopoulos, lead author of the study and a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
"Unfortunately we don't have monitoring data for insects and so you know, by being able to resample these historical studies, it can give us glimpses into how insect biodiversity is is changing over long, long time periods," said Resasco. "One of the benefits of working in this area and why I think this also is a cool study, is this area hasn't really changed much since that historical study was done. It has been maintained by the City of Boulder. So it kind of lets us look at how changes are happening without really worrying about that, like, land use change part as much," said Paraskevopoulos.Ants are crucial to ecosystems, not just here in Colorado, but across the planet.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Boulder Strong: Remembering the 10 lives lost in the Boulder King Soopers shooting 3 years agoSydney Isenberg is an Emmy-nominated digital content producer with Denver7 (KMGH) in Denver, Colorado. She began her career in Bakersfield, California, after graduating from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in 2018.
Read more »
Ants vs. Spiders: Tower Five Studios Announces “Empire of Ants”Tower Five Studios announces the upcoming real-time strategy game “Empire of Ants,” which brings the elaborate world of author Bernard Werber's ant colony to life. The game features photorealistic graphics, accessible gameplay, and unique mechanics such as the stickiness of the main character and the deadly nature of water.
Read more »
Spiders masquerade as ants to scare predators away, study findsThe ant-mimicking spider known as Myrmarachne colombiana was found preserved in copal resin in Colombia.
Read more »
Modern ants evolved alongside their ancient ancestors, study suggestsUnlike most species, ants managed to avoid extinction during the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event about 66 million years ago.
Read more »
Boulder County, Superior sue Jefferson County over “touch-and-go” aircraft maneuvers at Rocky Mountain airportBoulder County and Superior filed suit Tuesday against Jefferson County, claiming the owner of the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport has created a “public nuisance” by not doing more …
Read more »
CU Boulder investigation finds law school dean retaliated against professorAn investigation conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder found that a dean retaliated against a professor after he reported discrimination, violating university policy.
Read more »