Ground-dwelling ant species adapt their body traits and food resources to specific microhabitats along an elevation gradient

Understanding the responses of species to changing climates is becoming increasingly urgent with global change impacts. Of particular importance is the impact of global environmental change on species fundamental to the functioning of ecosystems. Using elevation gradients as a proxy for climate change, we investigated the intraspecific responses of ant traits across elevations from 100-700m in a subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest. Specifically, we quantified the relationships between environmental factors, trait variation, and trophic level in two ground-dwelling ant species (<i>Ectomomyrmex javanus</i>,<i> Odontoponera transversa</i>). Morphological traits (dry mass, head length, body size and leg length) generally increased with elevation. Ant<i> δ</i>¹³C increased significantly with elevation, whereas δ¹⁵N did not. Ant <i>δ</i>¹³C values of <i>E. javanus</i> correlated negatively with mean annual temperature (MAT), and the <i>δ</i>¹³C values of both species correlated positively with soil C:N ratio. Our study reveals that changing temperatures along elevations are associated with changes in the individual traits and <i>δ</i>¹³C signatures of ground-dwelling ants, revealing that ants are able to adapt their body traits and food resources to specific microhabitats.