Background+Information+&+Links

=Why should we care about ants? =

Ants disperse seeds, and pollinate plants.

Ants are predators, herbivores, decomposers, and scavengers

Ants turnover more soil than earthworms

There are 100’s of species of plants, bugs and butterflies that all depend on ants for protection

__Parent Organization Information: Urban Ecology Institute in partnership with Lesley University in Cambridge, MA__ Program information, general project description, links to some resources @http://www.urbaneco.org/education.html = =

__Project Extension and Background Information: School of Ants "Citizen Science" Website__ Program providing ant species identification and data tracking throughout the United States for school groups. Provides many resources tailored to K-12 Education on ants and ecology. @http://schoolofants.org/ = =

__Purchasing Materials: Carolina Biological Company, Frey Scientific__ @http://www.carolina.com/ [] = =

__Content Information: Ants information__ @http://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants = = Ants of North America - A Guide to the Genera, University of California Press Brian L. Fisher and Stefan P. Cover [|Ants of North America]

Selected papers:
A C OMMUNITY OF A NTS, F UNGI , AND B ACTERIA : A Multilateral Approach to Studying Symbiosis  Annual Review of Microbiology Vol. 55: 357-380 (Volume publication date October 2001) @http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.357?journalCode=micro

Ant biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem functioning: a review, by PATRICIA J. FOLGARAIT Biodiversity and Conservation 7, 1221±1244 (1998) @http://urbanecologylesley.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/folgarait19981.pdf = = = =