Molecular Ecology Group, Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
Molecular Ecology Group, Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 25;861:160443. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160443. Epub 2022 Nov 24.
Behaviour is a response of organisms to internal and external stimuli and comprises various activities such as searching for food. Aggression is important in such activities, for example, improving the chances of winning competition for food, but animals differ in their level of aggression. This behavioural plasticity allows individuals to respond to environmental changes and is important for the survival of animals. It may be an important asset in facing global changes, which affect all organisms, for example, via rising temperature and eutrophication. The latter have steadily increased since 1900, especially in high elevations. Their effects may first become visible in stationary organisms such as ants because their nests are strictly associated with the conditions on site. Here, we analysed eight populations of the high-elevation ant Tetramorium alpestre along several elevations spanning the European Alps. We conducted a correlative approach and analysed several genetic and environmental proxies, namely within- and across-colony genetic relatedness, cuticular hydrocarbons, body size, across-colony geographic distance, air temperature, and worker nitrogen values additionally to within-population aggressive behaviour. We hypothesised that a) these proxies and aggressive behaviour differ among populations and that b) one or more of these proxies influence aggression. We found that a) some environmental proxies and aggression differed among populations but not the genetic proxies and that b) air temperature and worker nitrogen-isotope values correlated positively with worker aggression. The results indicate an environmental but not social-structural influence on this ant's aggressive behaviour, even though social structure varied among populations (single- and multiple-queened colonies). We infer that global change affects aggression in our study system and propose five mutually non-exclusive scenarios to explain the behavioural change mechanistically. Using the space-for-time principle, we speculate that aggression may increase due to future increases in temperature and nitrogen availability in this ant and other species living in high elevations.
行为是生物对内部和外部刺激的反应，包括各种活动，如寻找食物。在这些活动中，攻击性很重要，例如，提高赢得食物竞争的机会，但动物的攻击性水平不同。这种行为可塑性使个体能够对环境变化做出反应，对动物的生存至关重要。它可能是应对全球变化的重要资产，全球变化影响所有生物体，例如，通过温度升高和富营养化。自 1900 年以来，富营养化一直在稳步增加，尤其是在高海拔地区。它们的影响可能首先在静止的生物中显现出来，例如蚂蚁，因为它们的巢穴与现场条件严格相关。在这里，我们沿着欧洲阿尔卑斯山的几个海拔高度分析了 8 个高山蚂蚁 Tetramorium alpestre 的种群。我们采用相关方法分析了几个遗传和环境代理，即种内和种间遗传相关性、表皮碳氢化合物、体型、种间地理距离、空气温度和工蚁氮值，以及种群内的攻击性行为。我们假设 a）这些代理和攻击性行为在种群之间存在差异，b）这些代理中的一个或多个会影响攻击性。我们发现，a）一些环境代理和攻击性在种群之间存在差异，但遗传代理没有差异，b）空气温度和工蚁氮同位素值与工蚁攻击性呈正相关。结果表明，环境而非社会结构对这种蚂蚁的攻击性行为有影响，尽管种群之间的社会结构存在差异（单女王和多女王群体）。我们推断，全球变化会影响我们研究系统中的攻击性，并提出了五个相互排斥的情景来从机制上解释行为变化。我们使用时空替代原则推测，由于未来温度升高和高海拔地区氮素供应增加，这种蚂蚁和其他生活在高海拔地区的物种的攻击性可能会增加。
