How Ants Make Our Cities Healthier

In pavement cracks, roadside medians, and parking lots, there are incredible miniature civilizations booming within our concrete jungles: ants! We don’t often think of urban areas as having “ecologies” but Amy Savage, Ph.D. studies the amazing diversity of ants making their way in the city. Their combined efforts make our urban landscapes greener places to live, but their newfound love of carbs is also changing things for them...

Our host and museum curator, Jessica Ware, Ph.D. joins Amy in a search for some tiny neighbors. They're managing surprisingly well in New York and other cities by adapting to human food. But without the access to easy protein (e.g., other insects to prey on), they're doing things a bit differently in street medians than they would in a more rural setting.

#ants #cities #nyc #ecology #insects

Image: Julian F, CC BY-NC, iNaturalist

*****
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateTerra
*****

Subscribe to PBS Terra so you never miss an episode! https://bit.ly/3mOfd77

And keep up with PBS Terra on:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/pbsdigitalstudios
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsterra
Instagram: https://instagram.com/pbsterra

Видео How Ants Make Our Cities Healthier канала PBS Terra