TERRE HAUTE, Indiana: Scientists have found that certain types of ants have the capability to adjust themselves well to urban warming. This capability could hold a key to tackling global warming and climate changes, they believe.
Researchers at the Indiana State University, led by Michael Angilletta, who carried out studies on the temperature patterns of some of the major cities and their impact on animals, noted that ants in Sao Paulo, Brazil, could tolerate heat better than ants found elsewhere. They say this is indication that these ants have been able to adjust physiologically to urban warming.
The scientists say major cities have shown trends of becoming hotter than their surrounding areas, in some cases 10 degrees Celsius hotter than nearby areas, and these temperatures have been a major stress factor for animals and plants. However, it has been found that animals living within the city and in these urban heat islands are better able to tolerate heat that fellow animals outside the cities.
Angilletta said this pattern may or may not hold for other species, but it will do good to have it studied for the benefit of humans. Such a study can help in the process of understanding how species respond to global climate change, he added.
Details of the team's research appear in the journal PLoS One.
Angilletta and the team now plan to continue with the study in association with geographers from Indiana State University's Center for Urban and Environmental Change to determine whether urban warming affects species in other major cities as well.
Qihao Weng, an associate professor of geography and director of the Center for Urban and Environmental Change, said the plan is to quantify heat islands on the small scales that pertain to organisms, initially in Indianapolis and later in other major cities throughout the world.
This can then lead to creation of thermal maps using satellite images recorded over several years. These maps will be useful in assessing the potential biological consequences of urban warming and identify suitable sites for future experiments.
