Plants in your ants: Using ant mounds to test basic ecological principles

Jennifer A. Zettler; Alexander Collier; Bil Leidersdorf; Missa Patrick Sanou

doi:10.1525/abt.2010.72.3.8

Plants in your ants: Using ant mounds to test basic ecological principles

Jennifer A. Zettler, Alexander Collier, Bil Leidersdorf, Missa Patrick Sanou

Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Urban students often have limited access to field sites for ecological studies. Ubiquitous ants and their mounds can be used to study and test ecology-based questions. We describe how soil collected from ant mounds can be used to investigate how biotic factors (ants) can affect abiotic factors in the soil that can, in turn, influence plant growth.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	172-175
Number of pages	4
Journal	American Biology Teacher
Volume	72
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2010.72.3.8
State	Published - Mar 2010

Scopus Subject Areas

Education
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Keywords

Ant mounds
Brassica rapa
Ecology
Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Plant growth

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10.1525/abt.2010.72.3.8

Cite this

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AU - Leidersdorf, Bil

AU - Sanou, Missa Patrick

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AB - Urban students often have limited access to field sites for ecological studies. Ubiquitous ants and their mounds can be used to study and test ecology-based questions. We describe how soil collected from ant mounds can be used to investigate how biotic factors (ants) can affect abiotic factors in the soil that can, in turn, influence plant growth.

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KW - Brassica rapa

KW - Ecology

KW - Macronutrients

KW - Micronutrients

KW - Plant growth

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Plants in your ants: Using ant mounds to test basic ecological principles

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

Keywords

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