So, you have some communities of ants. You notice that some communities are more diverse than others. In […]

Anyone who is a human living in a human society knows that social life carries with it the risk […]

In our recent Philosophy Phriday interview with UNC philosopher Ram Neta, Dr. Neta expressed surprise at the fact […]

Meet Sophie Schofield, Dr. Tom Bishop, and Dr. Kate Parr:

These three ant researchers wanted to know how drastically different environments impact functional traits in ants. So, they found out, and published their discoveries in Myrmecological News in September of last year.

Every living thing needs nutrients. Much previous work has shown that a variety of soil nutrients – in particular Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), and Potassium (K) – greatly impact plant communities. Often, human behaviors, especially agricultural practices like fertilization, have generated significant shifts in these nutrients. When environments become flushed with these nutrients, overall biomass typically increases but biodiversity often decreases. This is expected according to two hypotheses:

1. Nutrient Limitation Hypothesis: Limitations in nutrients suppress abundance, and therefore increases in nutrients will drive increased abundance.
2. Community Homogenization Hypothesis: Species that are most efficient at utilizing resources are prevented from completely excluding other species due to resource limitations. Therefore, increases in nutrients will allow these species to competitively exclude other species, decreasing overall diversity.

Perhaps the most widely-appreciated characteristic of ant colonies is their propensity for collective decision-making. How does a colony, with behavioral […]

As our regular readers understand, ants should be highly appreciated. However, there are some animals in nature that have not yet learned this valuable lesson. In a recent paper published in Biodiversity Data Journal, Dr. Brian Brown and colleagues highlight one such unenlightened group of critters: phorid flies.