Another Ecosystem Savior! Long live to Ants.

This article talks about the mystery behind ants repelling giant elephants from acacia trees. Elephants are known to be giant and strong. Yet, they are repelled by little ants who weigh one billion times smaller than them. So, this is an amazing and confusing situation. The article compares this situation with David and Goliath story. The article also discusses whether the ants gain something from the acacia tree. So, the ants participate in regulating carbon sequestration in these ecosystems endangered by herbivores such as elephants. This discovery happened in Kenya. This has changed the thoughts of ecologists about species that help regulate the ecosystem.
From the article, two aspects of science are intertwined; Ecology and Biology. The ants help maintain agriculture as well as the ecosystem by allowing tree to grow without being eaten by elephants. So, this has to do with ecology. The article includes Biology in a way that it talks about living beings, ants and elephant and their anatomy.
This article interests me because I am more concern about global warming. If elephants are not allowing plants to mature and use the CO2, the world will be in danger. So, those little ants are participating in the process of stopping global warming. Are we, humans, doing the same thing?


University of Florida. "Ants Take on Goliath Role in Protecting Trees in the Savanna from Elephants." ScienceDaily 2 September 2010. 3 September 2010 .