Uncovering the impacts of temperature changes on intraspecific social interactions

• Applicant: Dr. Dimitrios Georgios Kontopoulos
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 559410026

Social behavior is common across the animal kingdom because it can strongly improve the ability of individuals to survive and reproduce. Beyond the individual level, social interactions can influence the dynamics of entire populations, as well as their interactions with other species. Nevertheless, we still have a poor understanding of the impact of environmental factors (e.g., temperature) on social behavior. As a result, current models of species’ geographical ranges do not take social interactions into account, which could systematically bias their predictions for many species, especially in the face of global climate change. To fill this gap, in this project, I will investigate how temperature changes affect social behavior, using the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile, a highly invasive species in California, southern Europe, and elsewhere) as my study system. The Argentine ant typically forms large colonies which can strongly differ in the behavior of their members, and is thus particularly well-suited for this project. I will start by sampling ants from multiple colonies across California. Next, I will perform experiments to measure the performance of key social traits at a range of temperatures. By fitting mathematical equations to the data, I will objectively quantify the temperature dependence of each social trait (Objective #1). This will also enable me to identify any systematic differences in temperature dependence among colonies, likely linked to climatic factors (Objective #2). All this acquired knowledge will form the basis for the development of a computational agent-based model of a colony of the Argentine ant. I will use the resulting model to obtain theoretical predictions of how various thermal regimes will influence within-colony dynamics and the formation of new colonies (Objective #3). Ultimately, this project will greatly improve our understanding of how climate change may modify individual and collective behavioral patterns in social species and will set the foundations for the design of advanced mechanistic models of species' geographical ranges.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professorin Dr. Noa Pinter-Wollman