Carbon dioxide sequestration into biomineral armor by ants

2026 · doi:10.64898/2026.01.21.700952
preprint OA: closed
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-16 ⓘ

Fungus-farming ants were found to rapidly convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into dolomite biomineral on their exoskeletons, demonstrating a natural mechanism for carbon sequestration.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-07, 2026-07-16 · read from full text ⓘ

The study investigated whether fungus-farming ants (Sericomyrmex amabilis) can capture and convert atmospheric CO2 into stable carbonate minerals, specifically dolomite, within nest chambers. Using stable carbon isotope tracking, nanoscale secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and 13C solid-state NMR, the authors found that the ants rapidly form a biomineral layer covering their exoskeletons through biogenic carbon mineralization. They further report that the resulting dolomite is partially ordered. The paper does not explicitly state limitations of its approach in the provided text. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Over geologic time, Earth's climate has been shaped by the capture and conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into stable carbonate minerals, including dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2]. Accelerating natural carbon mineralization offers significant potential for mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Using stable carbon isotope tracking, nano-scale secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and 13C SSNMR, we show that, paralleling global biosphere-level processes, Sericomyrmex amabilis fungus-farming ants rapidly convert CO2 in their nest chambers into a biomineral layer covering their exoskeletons. We further reveal that biogenic carbon mineralization by these ants produces partially ordered dolomite. This rapid sequestration of CO2 into defensive armor in ants provides a fascinating natural example of mediation of potentially toxic accumulation of atmospheric CO2 that could inform human efforts to mitigate climate change.
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Abstract Over geologic time, Earth’s climate has been shaped by the capture and conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into stable carbonate minerals, including dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2]. Accelerating natural carbon mineralization offers significant potential for mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Using stable carbon isotope tracking, nano-scale secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and 13C SSNMR, we show that, paralleling global biosphere-level processes, Sericomyrmex amabilis fungus-farming ants rapidly convert CO2 in their nest chambers into a biomineral layer covering their exoskeletons. We further reveal that biogenic carbon mineralization by these ants produces partially ordered dolomite. This rapid sequestration of CO2 into defensive armor in ants provides a fascinating natural example of mediation of potentially toxic accumulation of atmospheric CO2 that could inform human efforts to mitigate climate change. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

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