Publications by authors named "R Boulay"
Wildfires play a determinant role in the composition and structure of animal communities, especially for groups closely associated with the vegetation and soil, such as bees or ants. The effects of fire on animal communities depend on the functional traits of each group. Here, we assessed the impacts of fire and time since fire on the taxonomic and functional responses of ant and bee communities.
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- The study investigates how introduced ant species adapt to new climates in Europe compared to native species, focusing on their climatic niches and phylogenetic relationships.
- Data from 134 ant species showed strong phylogenetic signals in native ant niches, but weak signals for factors affecting introduced species, who occupied different climatic niches than in their native ranges.
- Results indicate that although native species' climatic niche shifts are constrained by phylogenetics, introduced species can adapt to "empty" climatic niches without such constraints.
Invasive species have major impacts on biodiversity and are one of the primary causes of amphibian decline and extinction. Unlike other top ant invaders that negatively affect larger fauna via chemical defensive compounds, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) does not have a functional sting. Nonetheless, it deploys defensive compounds against competitors and adversaries.
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- Ants, particularly the species Aphaenogaster iberica, manage their nest temperatures collectively to optimize living conditions for the colony by relocating nests and adjusting their depth.
- A study of six A. iberica populations at varying elevations in the Sierra Nevada showed that ants at 1,300 m faced the most extreme temperatures and developed the highest heat tolerance compared to others.
- The findings suggest that while social thermal regulation is crucial for colony survival, it does not limit individual ants' physiological adaptations to tolerate high temperatures, supporting the climatic variability hypothesis.