Leaf-cutting ants of the genus Atta are widely distributed throughout the American tropics and subtropics and rival other herbivores in the consumption of surrounding foliage. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the role these insects play in herbivory and organic matter dynamics, only a handful of studies have examined their impacts on soil greenhouse gas emissions. Our study investigated fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) from three nests of Atta cephalotes using a portable greenhouse gas analyzer, and measured CO₂ and CH₄ emissions from soils containing nest holes that ranged 5.2–152.1 g CO₂-C and −1.1 to 15,264.7 mg CH₄-C m^-2 day^-1, respectively. Fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ were positively correlated above nest holes, but not in patches of soil away from leaf-cutting ant nests. Nearby non-nest soil emissions were significantly lower, ranging from 0.6 to 6.0 g CO₂-C and −1.3 to 0.77 mg CH₄-C m^-2 day^-1. Fluxes of both gases among nests and among holes within a single nest were highly variable. This preliminary dataset is small in scale both temporarily and geographically, but the discovery of substantial greenhouse gas fluxes from Atta cephalotes nests may have important implications for carbon budgets of tropical and subtropical American forests. Further work will be necessary to determine the mechanisms behind enhanced greenhouse gas emissions from leaf-cutting ant nests, and how this may alter ecosystem-scale CO₂ emissions and CH₄ sink strength in tropical forest soils.

Atta属的切叶蚁广泛分布于整个美洲热带和亚热带地区，并且在消耗周围的树叶方面与其他食草动物相媲美。尽管已经对这些昆虫在食草动物和有机物质动力学中的作用进行了大量研究，但只有少数研究检查了它们对土壤温室气体排放的影响。我们的研究使用便携式温室气体分析仪调查了来自Atta cephalotes 的三个巢穴的二氧化碳 (CO ₂ ) 和甲烷 (CH ₄ )通量，并测量了含有巢穴的土壤的CO ₂和 CH ₄排放量，范围为 5.2–152.1 g CO ₂ -C 和 -1.1 至 15,264.7 mg CH₄ -C m ^-2天^-1，分别。CO ₂和CH _{4 的}通量在巢穴上方呈正相关，但在远离切叶蚁巢的土壤斑块中则不然。附近的非巢状土壤排放量显着降低，范围为 0.6 至 6.0 g CO ₂ -C 和 -1.3 至 0.77 mg CH ₄ -C m ^-2 day ^-1。巢之间和单个巢内孔之间的两种气体的通量变化很大。这个初步数据集暂时和地理上的规模都很小，但发现来自Atta cephalotes的大量温室气体通量巢可能对热带和亚热带美国森林的碳预算有重要影响。需要进一步的工作来确定切叶蚁巢温室气体排放增加背后的机制，以及这可能如何改变热带森林土壤中生态系统规模的 CO ₂排放和 CH ₄汇强度。