Ants dominate waste management in tropical rainforests

A study by the University of Liverpool has found that ants are responsible for moving more than half of food resources from the rainforest floor, playing a key role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

According to Science Daily, a large scale study of the rainforests of Malaysian Borneo by Liverpool researchers found that ants alone were responsible for removing more than half of food resources from the rainforest floor.

The rest of the waste was removed by all other animals combined, including mammals, birds and other vertebrates and invertebrates. Resources and waste that were removed by the ants include dead animal bodies, seeds and fruits.

Liverpool ecologist, Dr Kate Parr, said: “The movement, consumption and recycling of dead organic material in ecosystems is important because it facilitates nutrient redistribution and decomposition. Because ants collect waste products and take them to their nests, they create hotspots of nutrients where plants and microbes thrive; this maintains a diverse and healthy soil.

The study showed that in the absence of ants no other animals can compensate for this role. Therefore, if ants weren’t carrying out waste removal, dead organic material would build up and decompose more slowly in situ creating a more homogenous, less diverse soil environment.

Lead author of the study, Dr Hannah Griffiths also with the University’s School of Environmental Sciences, added: “This work is important because tropical rainforests are some of the most threatened ecosystems on the planet, losing species at an alarming rate.