When you see an ant crawling on a wall, you don’t feel anything, right? Well, let us tell you that there are 2.85 million ants on the planet for every single human being. how do we know? A group of researchers in Hong Kong have estimated that there are 20 quadrillion ants crawling across the earth. Take your time to process the number.
The researchers integrated data from different parts of the world, compiling 489 studies, major biomes and habitats before dividing them into 20 quadrillion. Not to be forgotten, their total biomass is 12 megatons of dry carbon.
Biomass is the total amount or weight of organisms in a given area. While the biomass of ants goes up to 12 megatons, that of wild birds and mammals combined is about 2 million tonnes.
“This exceeds the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals and is equivalent to 20% of human biomass,” read The report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The research also noted that “the abundance of ants is unevenly distributed on Earth.” Compared to habitats, they are about six times more numerous in the tropics. Reportedly, land-dwelling ants are concentrated in tropical and sub-tropical regions. But they vary greatly in habitats.
“While the forest has the highest density of leaf-litter ants, the number of actively ground-dwelling ants is highest in arid regions,” the study said.
The global map of ant abundance expands our understanding of the geography of ant diversity. It also provides a baseline for predicting the responses of ants to environmental changes that currently affect insect biomass.
A previous study published in the Journal of Animal Ecology highlights that ants have two distinct influences on their local environment.
First, their nest-building and food-gathering activity affects nutrient levels in the soil. Secondly, “they prey on a wide range of other animals, including large prey that can be attacked by large numbers of ant workers.” Ants are effective hunters who attack in large numbers.
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