Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Earth's 20 Quadrillion Ants Outweigh All Wild Birds and Mammals, Combined

 

 There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants, and many others not yet named by science.
PHOTO: There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants, and many others not yet named by science.
Photo from Dmitry Dolhikh/Shutterstock
Picture posted by Mark Wong, How Stuff works on 20 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPlXFEEhYV7eZpuNM050PFnpyDFEt0blAEFVLaHTtIbV5xhS4gcwaRQ2FfbZpB2weAQFmWx6f3B_r7z_-U8a0d5zu3ZF7zj59T0LLVyXp2E2hY9I7hr4SmlGLwvhYnQa1aYt-afhJWKvpQmsVdhBIZy-NHqdNga0rn7MDeFhJEU61GRWkaIX7whcc/s828/YXZpZiJ9fQ==.png
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https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


Have you ever wondered exactly how many ants live on Earth? Possibly not, but it's certainly a question we've asked ourselves.

Our research provides an approximate answer. We conservatively estimate our planet harbors about 20 quadrillion ants. That's 20 thousand million millions, or in numerical form, 20,000,000,000,000,000 (20 with 15 zeros).

We further estimate the world's ants collectively constitute about 12 million tons (11 million metric tons) of dry carbon. This exceeds the mass of all the world's wild birds and wild mammals combined. It's also equal to about one-fifth of the total weight of humans.

Eminent biologist Edward O. Wilson once said insects and other invertebrates are "the little things that run the world" — and he was right. Ants, in particular, are a crucial part of nature. Among other roles, ants aerate the soil, disperse seeds, break down organic material, create habitat for other animals and form an important part of the food chain.

Estimating ant numbers and mass provides an important baseline from which to monitor ant populations amid worrying environmental changes.


 Many ant species, such as the amazing Meranoplus ants from Malaysia, are important seed dispersers.
PHOTO: Many ant species, such as the amazing Meranoplus ants from Malaysia, are important seed dispersers.
Photo from Pavel Krasensky/Shutterstock
Picture posted by Mark Wong, How Stuff works on 20 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBe05oespX_fxcZmiq14Jv4fkrUS68ZnwdfJqIwBEqFH9Qfoi_93S9fxg-EKKJte2R_lu1zwy16eN5M_HXeWmdFDqGE33EX-j79ypPQ5vakT-1NjHPDQB3gm3cAS6pz2llc6gYwLxfX5JT3kowHIT_UMDnLLo1tBJIwtzo5xQAc-sUbKRuAPFXOps1/s828/YXZpZiJ9fQ==1.png
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https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


Counting the World's Ants
There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants, and many others not yet named by science. Ants' high degree of social organization has enabled them to colonize nearly all ecosystems and regions around the globe.

The astounding ubiquity of ants has prompted many naturalists to contemplate their exact number on Earth. But these were basically educated guesses. Systematic, evidence-based estimates have been lacking.

Our research involved an analysis of 489 studies of ant populations conducted by fellow ant scientists from around the world. This included non-English literature, in languages such as Spanish, French, German, Russian, Mandarin and Portuguese.

The research spanned all continents and major habitats including forests, deserts, grasslands and cities. They used standardized methods for collecting and counting ants such as pitfall traps and leaf litter samples. As you can imagine, this is often tedious work.


 A pitfall trap is a standard method for collecting ants that crawl across the ground surface.
PHOTO: A pitfall trap is a standard method for collecting ants that crawl across the ground surface.
Photo from Snowmanphotos/Shutterstock
Picture posted by Mark Wong, How Stuff works on 20 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSW_mohuaHKiqfNjVJ0L3iAH4JUznwvifFKh4eNRcwRHVIoITyCm6SJcF55cyFB20iYe1ZqQGzisaISXJ2BOrGoV_KfyRYgnkyZFs9kL7BueVi0FI2tnm7p1cF2MisFrEJciBH13LvwQ7SDNDm0bbb6gGas51nEJjdQR9KU9z14dgeaAF8W2_X9Kdv/s828/YXZpZiJ9fQ==2.png
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https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


From all this, we estimate there are approximately 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. This figure, though conservative, is between two and 20 times higher than previous estimates.

The previous figures employed a "top-down" approach by assuming ants comprise about 1 percent of the world's estimated insect population. In contrast, our "bottom-up" estimate is more reliable because it uses data on ants observed directly in the field and makes fewer assumptions.

Our next step was to work out how much all these ants weigh. The mass of organisms is typically measured in terms of their carbon makeup. We estimated that 20 quadrillion average-sized ants correspond to a dry weight or "biomass" of approximately 12 million tons (11 million metric tons) of carbon.

This is more than the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals — and about 20 percent of total human biomass.

Carbon makes up about half the dry weight of an ant. If the weight of other bodily elements was included, the total mass of the world's ants would be higher still.

We also found ants are distributed unevenly on Earth's surface. They vary sixfold between habitats and generally peak in the tropics. This underscores the importance of tropical regions in maintaining healthy ant populations.

Ants were also particularly abundant in forests, and surprisingly, in arid regions. But they become less common in human-made habitats.

Our findings come with a few caveats. For example, the sampling locations in our dataset are unevenly distributed across geographic regions. And the vast majority of samples were collected from the ground layer, meaning we have very little information about ant numbers in trees or underground. This means our findings are somewhat incomplete.


 Pretty metallic Rhytidoponera ants carrying brood. While ants are prolific breeders, many also serve as predators that help keep populations of other insects in check.
PHOTO: Pretty metallic Rhytidoponera ants carrying brood. While ants are prolific breeders, many also serve as predators that help keep populations of other insects in check.
Photo from Peter Yeeles/Shutterstock
Picture posted by Mark Wong, How Stuff works on 20 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn0bQd4V0FhO6v-ubWfzzsaccgvVl8djcUIxdEEFNUaOKep_BCswZzXw2SsqNwskpgedUEpZvh1pfF0CmnzV59w0NtcL2rdMfNGPBdq0CXEY98jJHJiRxVSn9nBpH1q7E36qdr4Xo6T3ptaklpIyy0wMmHlLnPu9MUJtCecq0GXufkVwH2mSg10jd7/s828/YXZpZiJ9fQ==3.png
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https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


We All Need Ants
Ants also provide vital "ecosystem services" for humans. For instance, a study published Aug. 17, 2022 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found ants can be more effective than pesticides at helping farmers produce food.

Ants have also developed tight interactions with other organisms — and some species cannot survive without them.

For example, some birds rely on ants to flush out their prey. And thousands of plant species either feed or house ants in exchange for protection, or dispersal of their seeds. And many ants are predators, helping to keep populations of other insects in check.


 The new research found ants are distributed unevenly on Earth’s surface.
PHOTO: The new research found ants are distributed unevenly on Earth’s surface.
Photo from Peter Yeeles/Shutterstock
Picture posted by Mark Wong, How Stuff works on 20 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFaV1qwesSbfCBzMDRw5eAKrC0MmsrRb8Tgn26M0y9j_OU6n_MG7FvKFvUYc5563HWtNUHx2vxeOn3YDRidGmOa8G9-uCYHpIHZYJK-tWNkpkyhSC03lNkOir7t179ZXhXby0KJCgddL8wU_j-BhLp6lAbRinuvehb49mlKyyPSDjzfMpGb4ZuBPG/s828/YXZpZiJ9fQ==4.png
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https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


Alarmingly, global insect numbers are declining due to threats such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, chemical use, invasive species and climate change.

But data on insect biodiversity is alarmingly scarce. We hope our study provides a baseline for further research to help fill this gap.

It's in humanity's interest to monitor ant populations. Counting ants is not difficult, and citizen scientists from all over the world could help investigate how these important animals are faring at a time of great environmental change.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. You can find the original article here.

Mark Wong is a Forrest Fellow at The University of Western Australia. He receives funding from the Forrest Research Foundation. This article was co-authored by Benoit Guénard, François Brassard, Patrick Schultheiss, Runxi Wang and Sabine Nooten.
 

 Studies Name 'Unimaginable Number' of Ants and Threats
PHOTO: Studies Name “Unimaginable Number” of Ants and Threats
A figure of 20 quadrillion (20 x 1015) is double E. O. Wilson’s very rough calculation published in 1994 – the first scientific effort to estimate ant numbers by extrapolating from south-eastern England.
Photo by Piotr Naskreki ©
Picture posted by Joel Johnso, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation on 22 September 2022
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiygsVViYHVp_kIW2LSkd4kAoDYsWAg1bY7YQHA5D9IH4xS-P2tdFbtaTmj87_EgqsyDvPmKvht6BId9j095pKqLhgs21nCRuxoDqQavX1s9Ox2gCsHJ-2VM4rLy5h_TWNVYTE4RJkz9pqx7MnQhDnkyPoT3KDckZ6JFXk9TkIDEG9UdJpz7G2zX5-b/s600/Ant-Face_Piotr-Naskrecki--600x400.jpeg
https://www.half-earthproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Ant-Face_Piotr-Naskrecki--600x400.jpeg
https://eowilsonfoundation.org/study-names-unimaginable-number-of-ants/
By Mark Wong, How Stuff works, 20 September 2022
[1] Mark Wong, How Stuff works, Earth's 20 Quadrillion Ants Outweigh All Wild Birds and Mammals, Combined, posted on 20 September 2022, https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/earths-20-quadrillion-ants-news.htm?utm_source=HowStuffWorks+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=roundup-09-24-22


Links
research - https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2201550119

our planet - https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/earth.htm

Edward O. Wilson - https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/eo-wilson.htm

part - https://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/ants/ecological-importance

contemplate - https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29281253

typically measured - https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1711842115

about half - https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1711842115

underground - https://www.asianscientist.com/2017/07/features/aswp2017-subterranean-ants/

published - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.1316

flush out - https://beta.nsf.gov/news/birds-follow-army-ants-find-prey

feed or house ants - https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/ants-and-plants-a-very-natural-love-story

declining - https://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/alarming-drop-populations-has-scientists-warning-insect-armageddon.htm

The Conversation - https://theconversation.com/us

original article - https://theconversation.com/earth-harbours-20-000-000-000-000-000-ants-and-they-weigh-more-than-wild-birds-and-mammals-combined-190831

Benoit Guénard - https://theconversation.com/profiles/benoit-guenard-1380265

François Brassard - https://theconversation.com/profiles/francois-brassard-1380195

Patrick Schultheiss - https://theconversation.com/profiles/patrick-schultheiss-1380266

Runxi Wang - https://theconversation.com/profiles/runxi-wang-1380270

Sabine Nooten - https://theconversation.com/profiles/sabine-nooten-1380268


Busan ​​International Film Festival (BIFF) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/09/busan-international-film-festival-biff.html

Japanese Samba Carnival (links) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/10/japanese-samba-carnival-links.html
 
Asakusa Samba Carnival (links) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/10/asakusa-samba-carnival.html

Brazilian Samba Carnival - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/10/brazilian-samba-carnival-links.html

Scandinavian Samba Carnival (links) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/10/scandinavian-samba-carnival-links.html

Other stories - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/05/other-stories.html

Nursing stories - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/09/nursing-stories.html

Healthcare stories (links) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2021/01/healthcare-stories-links.html

Movie (Links) - https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/11/movie-links.html
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