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Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants

Leaf-cutting ant colonies largely differ in size, yet all consume O(2) and produce CO(2) in large amounts because of their underground fungus gardens. We have shown that in the Acromyrmex genus, three basic nest morphologies occur, and investigated the effects of architectural innovations on nest ve...

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Autores principales: Bollazzi, Martin, Römer, Daniela, Roces, Flavio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8611346/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34849241
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210907
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author Bollazzi, Martin
Römer, Daniela
Roces, Flavio
author_facet Bollazzi, Martin
Römer, Daniela
Roces, Flavio
author_sort Bollazzi, Martin
collection PubMed
description Leaf-cutting ant colonies largely differ in size, yet all consume O(2) and produce CO(2) in large amounts because of their underground fungus gardens. We have shown that in the Acromyrmex genus, three basic nest morphologies occur, and investigated the effects of architectural innovations on nest ventilation. We recognized (i) serial nests, similar to the ancestral type of the sister genus Trachymyrmex, with chambers excavated along a vertical tunnel connecting to the outside via a single opening, (ii) shallow nests, with one/few chambers extending shallowly with multiple connections to the outside, and (iii) thatched nests, with an above-ground fungus garden covered with plant material. Ventilation in shallow and thatched nests, but not in serial nests, occurred via wind-induced flows and thermal convection. CO(2) concentrations were below the values known to affect the respiration of the symbiotic fungus, indicating that shallow and thatched nests are not constrained by harmful CO(2) levels. Serial nests may be constrained depending on the soil CO(2) levels. We suggest that in Acromyrmex, selective pressures acting on temperature and humidity control led to nesting habits closer to or above the soil surface and to the evolution of architectural innovations that improved gas exchanges.
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spelling pubmed-86113462021-11-29 Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants Bollazzi, Martin Römer, Daniela Roces, Flavio R Soc Open Sci Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Leaf-cutting ant colonies largely differ in size, yet all consume O(2) and produce CO(2) in large amounts because of their underground fungus gardens. We have shown that in the Acromyrmex genus, three basic nest morphologies occur, and investigated the effects of architectural innovations on nest ventilation. We recognized (i) serial nests, similar to the ancestral type of the sister genus Trachymyrmex, with chambers excavated along a vertical tunnel connecting to the outside via a single opening, (ii) shallow nests, with one/few chambers extending shallowly with multiple connections to the outside, and (iii) thatched nests, with an above-ground fungus garden covered with plant material. Ventilation in shallow and thatched nests, but not in serial nests, occurred via wind-induced flows and thermal convection. CO(2) concentrations were below the values known to affect the respiration of the symbiotic fungus, indicating that shallow and thatched nests are not constrained by harmful CO(2) levels. Serial nests may be constrained depending on the soil CO(2) levels. We suggest that in Acromyrmex, selective pressures acting on temperature and humidity control led to nesting habits closer to or above the soil surface and to the evolution of architectural innovations that improved gas exchanges. The Royal Society 2021-11-24 /pmc/articles/PMC8611346/ /pubmed/34849241 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210907 Text en © 2021 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
Bollazzi, Martin
Römer, Daniela
Roces, Flavio
Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title_full Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title_fullStr Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title_full_unstemmed Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title_short Carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in Acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
title_sort carbon dioxide levels and ventilation in acromyrmex nests: significance and evolution of architectural innovations in leaf-cutting ants
topic Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8611346/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34849241
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210907
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