Those of you who know me are aware that I have an interest in Ants. Whilst this admission is often met with well natured mocking, as soon as I begin to discuss the ecology of these inconspicuous creatures, people begin to question their preconceptions. Ants, along with the bees and wasps (but not the termites) belong to the order of the Hymenoptera, also known as the social insects. This is in reference to their habit of living in colonies ranging from tens to millions of individuals, although the real interest lies in the lack of "the individual". Instead, the colony consists of a majority of sterile female workers, soldiers, nurses and other caste distinctions, who will only pass on their genes by facilitating the propogation of the Queen. This behavioral trait has led some (including good old E. O. Wilson) to refer to the colony as a 'superorganism'.
The division of labour, development of agricultural practice (facilitating the growth of a unique fungus, and milking aphids of their honey dew), and the extreme specialization to which certain castes go to (just look up honeypot ants) has captivated me ever since my first tutorial as a Freshman. This interest extended right up to when I undertook my undergraduate dissertation, those baby steps into the real world of scientific research. I decided to examine the role which ants may play in facilitating human success, in particular within the forestry industry.
Because of their ability to form extensive networks, allowing single colonies to cover large areas, ants can play a huge role in shaping their surrounding ecosystem. The construction and burrowing involved in nest building facilitates nutrient build up and the aeration of soils, whilst the selective foraging on certain seeds can determine the balance of plant species present. Because of the sizable appetite of the omnivorous colony, they will also predate on a large number of insects. Research has shown that Formica lugubris (the hairy wood ant) protect numerous forests within its range against a variety of phytophages (tree eating species). Certain observers have even recorded "green islands" in otherwise completely defoliated woodlands, in the places where the mound nests of F. lugubris are present.
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| The forests of the Vosges region of France, home to Formica lugubris. |
German forestry guards understood this to such an extent that in the 19th century a law was passed forbidding damage to the mound nest of the Waldameisen upon punishment of incarceration. A French myremecologist even went as far as proposing an optimum size and number of ant mounds per hectare to protect to a forest. I examined this proposal by looking at how the disturbance caused by lumber extraction might impact on the success of the mound.
Returning then, to human perceptions of the ant, it is only in the understanding of their facinating ecology that their direct economic benefit becomes evident. No longer the scrounge of a mid summer picnics, they become the habourers of the green gold locked up in our forestry stands. The economics of nature today are being examined more and more in order to attempt to weigh up options in land management. However, when our current understanding of ecosystems is so flawed, and when placing a monetary value extends to the spiritual and cultural value of a nature, this approach is questionable. But perhaps today, when money talks, this may be the one pragmatic avenue which we should take.
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