We know that various groups of insects are declining, and we tend to worry about them if they are beautiful butterflies or busy bees, but we wouldn't normally think of ants as being at risk. A recent paper has shown, however, that the diversity of ant species in island habitats is declining, which may be a warning sign for ant biodiversity everywhere. A big part of the problem is that those ant species that are best adapted to cope with human-made disruptions are spreading everywhere and displacing the ones that are less robust to the impacts of the anthropocene.
So this has been a good reason to look at those disappearing ants and the kind of ecosystem functions that we may lose when they go.
My feature is out now:
Ant diversity at risk
Current Biology Volume 35, Issue 21, 3 November 2025, Pages R1029-R1031
Restricted access to full text and PDF download
(contact me if you would like a PDF)
See also my Mastodon thread where I highlighted all CB features of 2025.
The thread for 2024 is here ..
The study of ant biodiversity and population declines in Fiji made use of museum specimens like these.
(Photo: Peter Ginter (CC BY).)
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