Warming-induced shifts on Tibetan Plateau: the overlooked ants and their ecological impacts

ContextTibetan alpine ecosystems are among the world's fastest-warming natural systems, and consequently, are expected to undergo dramatic changes in their ecological processes. However, despite the importance of ants in mediating these ecological processes, it remains unclear how they will respond to the rapid climate warming on the Tibetan Plateau.ObjectivesIn this perspective piece, we aim to establish a baseline understanding of the spatial distribution of ants on the Tibetan Plateau, to evaluate how these ants respond to climate change such as warming at both local and regional scales, and to identify future research avenues that can elucidate the impacts of warming-induced ant expansion.MethodsWe first present the results of a long-term climate manipulation experiment on how ants respond to warming in a Tibetan alpine grassland. Next, we evaluated the current and future distribution of ants on the Tibetan Plateau using the MaxEnt model with data compiled from existing field survey of ant species in the region. Finally, we synthesize published studies to review the ecosystem functions in which ants are involved on the Tibetan Plateau and identify gaps in current research.ResultsFrom our field warming experiment, we found that ant abundance significantly increased from 2017 to 2022. For our region-scale analysis, we found that the distribution of ants on the Tibetan Plateau will expand with future warming. Lastly, we identify a few key gaps in our knowledge of ants' ecological impacts (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, trophic network, and the interplay between the different ecosystem properties).ConclusionsOur results suggest that ants are widespread on the Tibetan Plateau, and involved in several important ecosystem processes with significant impacts on soils, plants, microbes and Tibetan faunas. With rapid climate warming, their abundance, and ecological functions will further lead to unknown far-reaching impacts on the health of the ecosystem, food web dynamics, and nutrient cycling of Tibetan alpine ecosystems. We call for more research activities to address critical knowledge gaps that have not been explicitly assessed in this important geographic region.

Automated summary

This perspective piece aims to establish a baseline understanding of the spatial distribution of ants on the Tibetan Plateau, evaluate their response to climate change, and identify future research avenues to elucidate the impacts of warming-induced ant expansion.