How Do Ants Help Pollinate Plants?
WouterDespite being one of the most important pollinators in the world, ants are actually not very good at pollinating. They only pollinate a few insect-pollinated plants.
Ants provide a variety of ecological services, from seed dispersal to protection from herbivores. They also have the capacity to consume a large number of insects, which helps reduce crop pests. They may even be the most common insect species in some habitats.
In one study, researchers compared pollen germination after exposure to ants versus bees. The results showed that pollen germination was significantly lower after exposure to ants than with bees.
The researchers compared the germination rate of pollen from each species against five control plants. They also measured how many pollinator visits each plant received. They found that, on average, staminate flowers received fewer pollinator visits than pistillate flowers.
The researchers compared ants and native honey bees. The researchers noted that the native honey bees pollinated more pumpkin flowers than ants. The researchers also noted that the presence of ants was not a real-world experiment. However, the researchers noted that the data is still useful.
The researchers also found that the presence of ants had a number of other effects on the fitness of the plant. For example, the presence of ants could reduce the germination of pollen, and possibly seed production as well.
Although the presence of ants in flowers is not a real-world experiment, the researchers note that the results do demonstrate that ants are important to some plants.
