Lions making fewer zebra kills due to ‘chain reaction’ involving invasive ants (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 9 months ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/biodiversity@mander.xyz

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When a lion decides to chase down a zebra it seems as though nothing can stop it. But now researchers have discovered these enormous predators are being thwarted by a tiny foe: ants.

Scientists have found the spread of big-headed ants in east Africa sets off a situation leading to lions making fewer zebra kills.

Prof Todd Palmer of the University of Florida, a co-author of the research, said the findings were a surprise. “I was stunned,” he said. The fewer kills appear to be due to the upending of a crucial relationship – between native ants and the trees in which they live, causing a loss of cover for lions.

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[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Scientists have found the spread of big-headed ants in east Africa sets off a situation leading to lions making fewer zebra kills.

Prof Todd Palmer of the University of Florida, a co-author of the research, said the findings were a surprise.

The fewer kills appear to be due to the upending of a crucial relationship – between native ants and the trees in which they live, causing a loss of cover for lions.

Acacia ants protect whistling-thorn trees by biting and stinging elephants looking for a snack.

To unpick the wider ecological impacts Palmer and colleagues first studied a number of plots in Laikipia, Kenya, some where elephants were present, some where they were excluded.

The team found that when big-headed ants and elephants were present there was a drop in tree cover and a dramatic increase in visibility.

The original article contains 499 words, the summary contains 139 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024

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Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.

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