3 ms·

But what are the actual environmental benefits of ants? Anyone care to explain? Ive looked around on the net for this but imo the info is a bit scarce.

by aliswe 6y ago

danparsonson 6y ago
The 'benefits' of an individual element of our ecosystem can be hard to quantify directly but I'd hazard a guess at a) abundant food source for larger animals, b) waste processing and disposal, and c) pest control, although 'pest' is a relative term - perhaps better to characterise their place as helping to keep other populations in balance, part of the dynamic equilibrium if you like
- AlexandrB 6y ago
  Their tunnels also aerate soil, like earthworms. Though, IMHO, it's pretty foolish to look for specific, enumerated "benefits" of native animals. They co-exist with a variety of other organisms in complex ways and removing any one of them can have unexpected fallout[1]. Also, if we're asking this question about ants, I really hope no one asks "But what are the actual environmental benefits of humans?" about us. [1] https://ethology.eu/how-wolves-change-rivers/ https://ethology.eu/how-wolves-change-rivers/
  - aliswe 6y ago
    I'm not really looking for reasons to wipe out colonies, I'm thinking about reasons for introducing them. For example, can they be beneficial in reversing desertification? Do they help plants by somehow bringing them nutrients? I'm very curious as I'm certain they have huge benefits, I'm just not sure exactly what they are ...
    - danparsonson 6y ago
      Try thinking about it more holistically. It's not so much that ants on their own are great for a specific purpose, but rather that they work together with other parts of the ecosystem to make the whole thing work. If you're so inclined, maybe it's useful to think about neural networks; take a face-recognition network, pick any node, then ask 'what is this good for?'.
- mellavora 6y ago
  d) soil aeration/permeability https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008891901953 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008891901953 and your point c) is a pretty big one
exo-pla-net 6y ago
An example from the article: > Winnow ants disperse so many herbaceous seeds in North America, Dr. Rice notes, that “removing them causes wildflower abundance to drop by 50 percent.”

But what are the actual environmental benefits of ants? Anyone care to explain? Ive looked around on the net for this but imo the info is a bit scarce.

by aliswe 6y ago

But what are the actual environmental benefits of ants? Anyone care to explain? Ive looked around on the net for this but imo the info is a bit scarce.

danparsonson 6y ago

The 'benefits' of an individual element of our ecosystem can be hard to quantify directly but I'd hazard a guess at a) abundant food source for larger animals, b) waste processing and disposal, and c) pest control, although 'pest' is a relative term - perhaps better to characterise their place as helping to keep other populations in balance, part of the dynamic equilibrium if you like

AlexandrB 6y ago
Their tunnels also aerate soil, like earthworms. Though, IMHO, it's pretty foolish to look for specific, enumerated "benefits" of native animals. They co-exist with a variety of other organisms in complex ways and removing any one of them can have unexpected fallout[1]. Also, if we're asking this question about ants, I really hope no one asks "But what are the actual environmental benefits of humans?" about us. [1] https://ethology.eu/how-wolves-change-rivers/ https://ethology.eu/how-wolves-change-rivers/
- aliswe 6y ago
  I'm not really looking for reasons to wipe out colonies, I'm thinking about reasons for introducing them. For example, can they be beneficial in reversing desertification? Do they help plants by somehow bringing them nutrients? I'm very curious as I'm certain they have huge benefits, I'm just not sure exactly what they are ...
  - danparsonson 6y ago
    Try thinking about it more holistically. It's not so much that ants on their own are great for a specific purpose, but rather that they work together with other parts of the ecosystem to make the whole thing work. If you're so inclined, maybe it's useful to think about neural networks; take a face-recognition network, pick any node, then ask 'what is this good for?'.
mellavora 6y ago
d) soil aeration/permeability https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008891901953 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008891901953 and your point c) is a pretty big one

exo-pla-net 6y ago

An example from the article: > Winnow ants disperse so many herbaceous seeds in North America, Dr. Rice notes, that “removing them causes wildflower abundance to drop by 50 percent.”