Prediction of abundance of ants due to climate warming in South Korea

Abstract

Among the 57 species of ants collected from 366 forest sites, 16 candidate species whose abundance has a close relation with temperature were selected to predict the changes in distribution and abundance according to the A1B climate change scenario. The results showed that, when the temperature rises, the abundance of 11 species is expected to decrease, whereas five species are expected to increase. Based on the qualitative estimation, the abundance of 10 species among the 31 species is predicted to increase, whereas that of 21 species is projected to decrease. The abundance of 32 species among 57 species was expected to decrease due to climate changes, whereas 15 species was expected to increase; the number of species expected to decrease was more than two times that of species that are expected to increase.