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Comment
. 2022 Oct 18;119(42):e2214825119.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2214825119. Epub 2022 Oct 5.

Improving estimates of global ant biomass and abundance

Tom M Fayle  1   2 , Petr Klimes  2
Affiliations
Comment

Improving estimates of global ant biomass and abundance

Tom M Fayle et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Historical progress in estimating (A) global ant abundance and (B) global ant biomass. Points represent individual estimates of abundance or biomass. Range bars indicate multiple estimates from a single study under different assumptions. Estimates from Schultheiss et al. (3) are in red, with their best estimate of 12.3 Mt C as a central point and the alternative estimates presented in the study’s supplementary information as range bars. Current best estimates of global biomass for a range of other groups are presented to the right in B. Abundances for other groups are not plotted, as they vary too widely to be visualized on the same plot as the ant abundances. Sources for ant estimates by year are 1983 (12), 1994 (13), 2009 (14), 2014 (23), 2020 (15), and 2022 (3). Note that for completeness, we include two estimates from nonpeer-reviewed sources (12, 23). In three cases, it was necessary to convert the numbers into megatonnes of carbon (13, 14, 23). Sources for biomass estimates for other groups are ref. for livestock, humans, wild mammals, and birds; ref. for termites; and ref. for nematodes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth.
    Schultheiss P, Nooten SS, Wang R, Wong MKL, Brassard F, Guénard B. Schultheiss P, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Oct 4;119(40):e2201550119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2201550119. Epub 2022 Sep 19. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022. PMID: 36122199 Free PMC article.

References

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    1. Schultheiss P., et al. , The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 119, e2201550119 (2022). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tilman D., Isbell F., Cowles J. M., Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 45, 471–493 (2014).
    1. Griffiths H. M., et al. , Ants are the major agents of resource removal from tropical rainforests. J. Anim. Ecol. 87, 293–300 (2018). - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

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