mgr Michał Kochanowski
Scientific interests
- fungal ecology
- insect-fungal interactions
Projects
- Who is pulling the strings? The importance of nutrition in a host-parasite system, Polonez Bis 2, Polish National Science Centre, 2023-2025 (research assistant)
Internships
- University of Copenhagen, Social and Symbiotic Evolution Group, 2023
Memberships
- Polish Mycological Society
Other information
- nature educator
Publications
Siedlecki, Igor; Kochanowski, Michał; Pawłowska, Julia; Reszotnik, Gabriela; Okrasińska, Alicja; Wrzosek, Marta
Ant's Nest as a microenvironment: Distinct Mucoromycota (Fungi) community of the red wood ants' (Formica polyctena) mounds Journal Article
In: Ecology and Evolution, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. e70333, 2024.
@article{https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70333,
title = {Ant's Nest as a microenvironment: Distinct Mucoromycota (Fungi) community of the red wood ants' (Formica polyctena) mounds},
author = {Igor Siedlecki and Michał Kochanowski and Julia Pawłowska and Gabriela Reszotnik and Alicja Okrasińska and Marta Wrzosek},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ece3.70333},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70333},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-10-09},
urldate = {2024-10-09},
journal = {Ecology and Evolution},
volume = {14},
number = {10},
pages = {e70333},
abstract = {Abstract Many social insect species build nests, which differ from the surrounding environment and are often occupied by specific organismal communities. These organisms may interact mutualistically or parasitically with the nest-builders, or simply co-occur, being able to survive in these microenvironments. In temperate forests, red wood ants (e.g. Formica polyctena) are known to create distinct, highly developed nests, which consist of large, above-ground mounds, built primarily out of plant matter collected from the forest litter. The microorganismal communities of such mounds remain understudied. As representatives of Mucoromycota fungi commonly engage in the decomposition process of the forest litter, they would be expected to occur in the mounds. However, it is still not known whether the Mucoromycota community of these ants' nests differ from the one of the surrounding forest litter. In order to distinguish mound-associated taxa, we characterized Mucoromycota communities of Formica polyctena mounds and the surrounding forest litter. We sampled four sites, twice in a season. Sampled material was plated on agar media and emerging Mucoromycota colonies were identified based on their morphology. Fungal identification was further confirmed using DNA barcoding. In order to compare described communities, PERMANOVA test and non-metric multidimensional scaling ordinations were used. To distinguish taxa associated with the mounds, multilevel pattern analysis was performed. Our results show that the Mucoromycota community of Formica polyctena's mound differs from the community of the surrounding forest litter. While representatives of Entomortierella lignicola and Absidia cylindrospora clade were found to be associated with the mound environment, representatives of Umbelopsis curvata and Podila verticillata-humilis clade were associated with forest litter, and were rarely present in the mounds. Our findings strongly suggest that the red wood ants' nest is a specific microenvironment in the temperate forest floor, which is a preferred microhabitat for the mound-associated Mucoromycota, possibly adapted to live in proximity to ants.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Trigos-Peral, G.; Maák, I. E.; Schmid, S.; Chudzik, P.; Czaczkes, T. J.; Witek, M.; Casacci, L. P.; Sánchez-García, D.; Lőrincz, Á.; Kochanowski, M.; Heinze, J.
Urban abiotic stressors drive changes in the foraging activity and colony growth of the black garden ant Lasius niger Journal Article
In: Science of The Total Environment, vol. 915, 2024, ISSN: 0048-9697.
@article{Trigos-Peral2024,
title = {Urban abiotic stressors drive changes in the foraging activity and colony growth of the black garden ant Lasius niger},
author = {G. Trigos-Peral and I.E. Maák and S. Schmid and P. Chudzik and T.J. Czaczkes and M. Witek and L.P. Casacci and D. Sánchez-García and Á. Lőrincz and M. Kochanowski and J. Heinze},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170157},
issn = {0048-9697},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-03-00},
urldate = {2024-03-00},
journal = {Science of The Total Environment},
volume = {915},
publisher = {Elsevier BV},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Korczyńska, Julita; Szczuka, Anna; Urzykowska, Julia; Kochanowski, Michał; Andrzejczyk, Neptun Gabriela; Piwowarek, Kacper Jerzy; Godzińska, Ewa Joanna
In: Animals, vol. 13, no. 17, 2023, ISSN: 2076-2615.
@article{Korczyńska2023,
title = {The Effects of Ethanol and Acetic acid on Behaviour of Extranidal Workers of the Narrow-Headed Ant Formica exsecta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) during a Field Experiment},
author = {Julita Korczyńska and Anna Szczuka and Julia Urzykowska and Michał Kochanowski and Neptun Gabriela Andrzejczyk and Kacper Jerzy Piwowarek and Ewa Joanna Godzińska},
doi = {10.3390/ani13172734},
issn = {2076-2615},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-09-00},
urldate = {2023-09-00},
journal = {Animals},
volume = {13},
number = {17},
publisher = {MDPI AG},
abstract = {<jats:p>Ethanol addiction belongs to the most important problems encountered in the domain of human mental health. The research on the behavioural effects of exposure to/consumption of ethanol are investigated largely with the help of animal models that also include insects, mainly fruit flies and honeybees. The effects of ethanol on ant behaviour remain, however, little known. In the present field study, we investigated the behaviour of workers of the narrow-headed ant (Formica exsecta) displayed in the vicinity of cotton pads soaked in water or in water solutions of ethanol or acetic acid during 5 min tests (n = 30 tests in each group). Both ethanol and acetic acid induced significant modifications of ant locomotion, exploratory behaviour, self-grooming behaviour, and aggressive social behaviour. We confirmed that acetic acid is aversive for the ants, but ethanol enhances their exploratory behaviour. We also found out that field studies may document more types of responses to experimental compounds than laboratory ones, as the tested animals may also escape from aversive substances. Our findings documented a wide spectrum of behavioural effects of exposure to ethanol and acetic acid in a highly social animal species and broadened the general knowledge about behavioural responses to these compounds encountered in animals.</jats:p>},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Gorczak, Michał; Siedlecki, Igor; Błocka, Zuzanna; Cullen, Maria; Daniele, Inita; Fox, Howard; Harder, Christoffer; Kinnunen, Juha; Kochanowski, Michał; Krisai-Greilhuber, Irmgard; Majchrowska, Maria; Meiere, Diana; Oberhofer, Martina; Schigel, Dmitry; Senn-Irlet, Beatrice; Wiktorowicz, Dorota; Wrzosek, Marta; Pawłowska, Julia
In: Acta Mycologica, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 55211, 2021.
@article{Gorczak2021,
title = {18th Congress of European Mycologists Bioblitz 2019 – Naturalists Contribute to the Knowledge of Mycobiota and Lichenobiota of Białowieża Primeval Forest},
author = {Michał Gorczak and Igor Siedlecki and Zuzanna Błocka and Maria Cullen and Inita Daniele and Howard Fox and Christoffer Harder and Juha Kinnunen and Michał Kochanowski and Irmgard Krisai-Greilhuber and Maria Majchrowska and Diana Meiere and Martina Oberhofer and Dmitry Schigel and Beatrice Senn-Irlet and Dorota Wiktorowicz and Marta Wrzosek and Julia Pawłowska},
url = {https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/am/article/view/am.55211/8039},
doi = {DOI: https://doi.org/10.5586/am.55211},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-02-25},
urldate = {2021-02-25},
journal = {Acta Mycologica},
volume = {55},
number = {2},
pages = {55211},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}