Thursday, February 10, 2011

Second Blog! Rachel Rausa




Have you ever thought about how important ants are? Recent research has been done at the University of Exeter and it has been discovered that ants have a tremendous impact on their local environment, especially the food chain. When the ants move through the soil underground, it adds lots of nutrients to it. This effects all levels of the food chain. Also, ants prey on a wide range of other animals, even prey that are larger than the ants. Dirk Sanders, an author of the study from the university's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said that this was because ant workers can attack in large groups. Plus, they are extremely aggressive.

Before reading this article, I just thought that ants were just useless, annoying bugs that crawl on you when you sit in the grass. I now know how important ants are to our local environment. Without ants, many other species would be effected because the ants have such a powerful impact on the food chain.

By adding nutrients to the soil, how does this positively impact the other animals?
How do you think the food chain would be effected without ants?
What other ways to you think ants effect the environment?


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4 comments:

  1. Phil T.February 13, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    1.The other animal populations increase in number and density.
    2. The number of other animals would increase in size and density.
    3. They nuture plants by moving the soil. They are also bad because they can invade houses and cause problems for humans.

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  2. Alyssa K.February 13, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    1. The animals can get the nutrients from the soil by eating plants or animals that ate the plants. Which would make them healthier and improve their population and lives.
    2.Some animals numbers could decrease because they might feed mainly on the ants, but the populations of most animals will probably stay the same.
    3. They probably help to get rid of annoying pests just like spiders, and like Phil said they can infest homes and cause problems for humans.

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  3. Kerry FFebruary 13, 2011 at 3:27 PM

    1. By adding nutrients to the soil, the ants are helping to make a better place for things to grow, like flowers, trees, and other plants too.
    2. Without ants animals like the anteater would probably go extinct. Also if the soil wasn't as rich, plants and trees wouldn't be able to grow, which would cause a decrease in species that rely on those mainly for food.
    3. Like both Phil and Alyssa said, they annoy humans a lot by invading homes and such, but they also are the food source for other animals and they contribute to the environment just like any opther animal species.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shea BFebruary 13, 2011 at 7:01 PM

    1. It increases the population of the ants
    2.Animals that eat ants would decrease population
    3.Once again, ants do bother humans because they can become a problem in homes, but they are very important to nature.

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