A termite mound buffers heat, but not the future climate
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Across 19 colonies, the investigators measured worker thermal tolerance and trait variation; internal nest microclimates were monitored in four mounds. Nest temperatures fluctuated less than ambient air, and modeled present-day thermal safety margins remained positive. Warming scenarios projected narrower margins, especially toward lower latitudes, while worker morphology and aspects of gut function varied with climatic gradients.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Animals can buffer exposure by constructing habitat without becoming ecologically independent of climate. Conservation and land-use decisions that protect microhabitats still need to consider chronic warming and biological functions beyond simple survival thresholds.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Only four mounds had direct temperature time series, while future safety margins are model projections based on assumptions about behavior and physiology. Gut-microbiome associations do not demonstrate effects on colony performance; this is not evidence that all termite species share the same buffer.
SOURCE
Insectes Sociaux — Cornitermes thermal physiology (30 Oct 2026)
View original evidence ↗
Brazilian colonies kept positive modeled thermal safety margins while their physiology and traits remained climate-sensitive.
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