There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants, and many have not been scientifically named.
Have you ever thought about how many ants live on the earth?
Scientists' research provides a rough answer. We conservatively estimate that there are about 20 trillion ants on our planet. Or in digital form, 20,000,000,000,000,000,000 (there are 15 zeros after the 20s).
Further estimates that the ants in the world constitute a total of about 12 million tons (11 million tons) of dry carbon. This exceeds the sum of all wild birds and wild mammals in the world. It also corresponds to about one-fifth of the total weight of humans.
In particular, ants are an important part of nature. Among other functions, ants inflate soil, spread seeds, break down organic matter, create habitats for other animals and form an important part of the food chain.
Many ant species, such as the amazing Meranoplus ants from Malaysia, are important seed spreaders.
ants in the world
There are more than 15,700 named species and subspecies of ants, and many of them have not been scientifically named. The high social organization of ants allows them to exist in almost all ecosystems and regions around the world to colonize.
The amazing universality of ants prompted many naturalists to think about their exact number on Earth. But these are basically well-educated speculations, lacking systematic, evidence-based estimates.
This study spans all continents and major habitats, including forests, deserts, grasslands and cities. They used standardized methods to collect and count ants such as traps and leaf samples. It is conceivable, this is a boring job.
Trap is a standard method for collecting ants crawling across the surface.
To sum up, we estimate that there are about 20 trillion ants on the earth. Although this number is conservative, it is 2 to 20 times higher than the previous estimate. The data before
adopts a "top-down" approach, assuming that ants account for about 1% of the world's estimated insect population. In contrast, our "bottom-up" estimate is more reliable because it uses ant data observed directly on the field and makes fewer assumptions.
The next step is to calculate the weight of all these ants. The mass of organisms is usually measured by their carbon composition. We estimate that the 20 trillion ants of average size are equivalent to about 12 million tons (11 million tons) of dry weight or “biomass” of carbon.
This is more than the total biomass of wild birds and mammals, accounting for about 20% of the total biomass of humans.
carbon accounts for about half of the dry weight of ants. If the weight of other body elements is included, the total mass of the world ants will be higher.
We also found that ants are unevenly distributed on the surface of the earth. They can have a six-fold gap between habitats, often reaching peaks in tropical areas. This underscores the importance of tropical regions in maintaining healthy ant populations.
Ants are also particularly rich in the forest. But they become less common in artificial habitats.
Although ants are prolific breeders, many ants also act as predators, helping to control populations of other insects.
We all need ant
Ants also provide vital "ecosystem services" to humans. For example, a study published on August 17, 2022 in the journal Journal of the Royal Society B found that ants are more effective than insecticides when it comes to helping farmers produce food.
Ants also form close interactions with other organisms - some species cannot survive without them.
For example, some birds rely on ants to wash their prey. Thousands of plant species either feed on ants or raise ants in exchange for protection, or spread their seeds. Many ants are predators, helping to control the population of other insects.
New research finds that ants are unevenly distributed on the earth's surface.
Worryingly, the global insect population is declining due to threats such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, chemical use, invasive species and climate change.
But data on insect biodiversity is very scarce. Monitoring ant population is in the interests of human beings. Counting ants is not difficult, and citizen scientists from around the world can help investigate how these important animals perform when their environment changes dramatically.
