Climate change impact on neotropical social wasps.
Alain Dejean1, Régis Céréghino, James M Carpenter
1CNRS - UMR 8172, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane, Campus Agronomique, BP 709 Kourou, France. alain.dejean@wanadoo.fr
Plos One
|November 11, 2011
Summary
Climate change negatively impacts social wasp populations, with heavy rainfall linked to population declines. These findings suggest social wasps serve as crucial bio-indicators for climate shifts.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Science
- Entomology
Background:
- Long-term monitoring is crucial for linking climate change to animal population dynamics.
- Social wasps are hypothesized to be sensitive to climatic variations.
- Establishing baseline data for population fluctuations is challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on social wasp populations in French Guiana.
- To determine the relationship between climatic variations and social wasp abundance and species presence.
- To assess the potential of social wasps as bio-indicators of climate change.
Main Methods:
- Conducted long-term surveys of social wasp populations (1997-2009) along forest edges.
- Analyzed 30-year weather data, correlating rainfall, temperature, humidity, and solar radiation with wasp populations.
- Utilized the Self-Organizing Map algorithm to analyze rainfall patterns and their impact.
Main Results:
- A significant decrease (77.1%) in social wasp nest abundance and species presence (70.5%) was observed during the 2000 La Niña event.
- Wasp populations declined during La Niña years (2000, 2006) and increased during the 2009 El Niño year.
- Heavy rainfall during rainy seasons negatively impacted wasp populations, with strong rainfall contrasts exacerbating the effect. Populations did not recover to pre-2000 levels.
Conclusions:
- Recent climatic changes, particularly heavy rainfall, have likely reduced social wasp colonies by lowering their resistance to parasitoids and pathogens.
- Neotropical social wasps demonstrate sensitivity to climatic changes, making them valuable bio-indicators.
- These wasps signal climate change impacts not yet evident in plant and other animal populations.
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