Skip to main content

The Amazon Rainforest series-part 4: The diligent population checker: The killer fungus

Image
By
Hi everyone,

Today we have a very special post for you. This is our very first guest blogging post. Casandra Chikanele has written an amazing post about the Amazon rainforest. This post is therefore the 4th part in the Amazon rainforest series. Enjoy!
Your Green World TeamšŸ’š



The Amazon rainforest is a diverse and wildlife intense site. Home to thousands of species of animals, insects, reptiles, and all living forms including plants and microbial entities. 1/3 of all species live in this cradle of life. About 2.5 million species of ants, one thousand three hundred species of birds, four hundred and thirty species of mammals, and many more.
This environment houses quite a numerous amount of living things, predators and prey, families, and bachelors. A place with such a diverse ecosystem, where new offspring is constantly brought forth. Some species reproduce in little numbers, while others reproduce in hundreds or thousands every few weeks. It is easy to think the forest can become overpopulated just like the human section.


The reproductive cycle of all animals differs, most animals give birth in small numbers and less frequently than some. The insect world is more generous in its reproduction, with them laying hundreds of eggs at a time, especially with ants where there are about 8 million ants per hectare in the Amazon rainforest. These insects invade every avenue of the forest from the tree tops to the forest floor and even underground.

In their numerous sizes, they work hard to keep their already mighty colony and precious monarch safe. In their large numbers, they search for food, stripping an entire section of a tress half bare if not the entirety by the time they are done. Ants consume more vegetation than any other creature in the forest. And protecting whatever they claim as theirs with all force. As it has been recorded that ants attack way larger insects in large numbers by overwhelming and even killing them.

The insects are the most successful kingdom in the Amazon rainforest, with their numbers booming, it is quite easy to think they can take over the forest, swarming all over, getting an upper hand in the ecosystem, and threatening other species.


But why hasn’t this happened.?

So typical of nature to have everything in check. Nature has numerous techniques and technologies put in place to ensure orderliness and balance, trees, forests, mangroves, moorlands, oceans, and clouds. All these are more than just beautiful landscapes. They are in fact nature's technology to ensure the balance is kept; their beauty is just a physical image, and they are much more than that. This is why the chaos of climate change is happening due to humans' involvement in tampering with nature's technology.

As nature has it, no one species can have an upper hand in the forest, not even these fast-growing, hardworking insect colonies. The more numerous the insects are, the larger the colonies grow, and the more likely they will cease to exist. This is made possible by an insect infecting parasitic fungi called cordyceps.


Now generally ants are familiar with fungi, they in fact fetch leaves that they use to cultivate their fungi farm, which they feed to their larvae; they also have antibiotic saliva that they use to keep their farm infection free.
The ants who are social animals have put in place social immunity, which is a set of procedures they use to prevent any disease from the colony. They groom each other with their antibiotic saliva, any individuals that show signs of illness are taken far away from the colony and sometimes killed to avoid infecting others, and dead ants are removed immediately before any damage ensues. Even in their little fungi farm, the ants that tend to the fungi, after cleaning up the farm and removing garbage do not come in contact with the queen or the fungus to avoid any infection harming the colony. This strict social immunity is what keeps the ants' infection free.

But the cordyceps manipulates its way around this ant’s security. How?

The cordyceps is a parasitic fungus that infects insects. It infects them, takes control of their body and mind, and manipulates them. And before the ant dies, the fungi manipulate the infected ant to climb high up a tree, about 25 centimeters above the ground and then cause the ant to grip tightly using its mandible against a stem, this is known as the death grip. And a couple of hours later the ant dies.

But how does this favor the cordyceps fungus?

The fungus causes the ants to go 25cm above the ground when the sun is highest and they grip the underside of the leaf. This height and time provide the optimal temperature and humidity for the fungus to erupt and disperse. Gripping the underside of the leaf will protect the fungi from rain and UV rays; until when night time comes and the spores can disperse when the temperature is cooler.

Why do the fungi not just manipulate the ant to move into the colony and die there and easily disperse its spores?

Well, any ant found sick, misbehaving, or infected will be killed or/and taken far away from the colony where it cannot infect others,


so causing the ant to move out on its own, will better its chances of infecting the colony. The ant moves away from the colony but not too far, just a few meters so that the colony is still within reach, and at a height that can increase far dispersion. So that when the spores are finally released, they can reach the colony and attach to a new host.
And for some other insects, it causes them to become more energetic and to find a mate quickly to ensure dispersion.

This fungus is believed to have been around for thousands of years and to have adapted to conditions and even changed its prey over time. In tropical forests where they are few leaves to grip on, the fungi have been observed to cause their victims to grip on twigs and bark.
The presence of these fungi ensures that no one species dominates, as it infects largely populated colonies of ants, beetles, praying mantis, grasshoppers, and other insects. The balance of the ecosystem is restored.


The Amazon has numerous activities and secrets that unfold within it. And new species are found as the sun spotlights them every setting day.


Casandra Chikanele is a freelance writer whose niche is wildlife and the environment. She is also passionate about nature. For more info, click here.


Sources:


Images:
Collage: This image, owned by Robyn Jay (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
A large gathering of ants: This image, owned by Ingrid V Taylar (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Ant infected by cordyceps fungus: This image, owned by Bernard DUPONT (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Ants fighting: This image, owned by Matt Francey (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Sunlight on water: This image is owned by Arnie Chou on pexels.com.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heatwaves - what's so bad about them?

By
Hi everyone, Today we’re talking about heatwaves and what effects they have on us and the environment. Heatwaves are becoming ever more common, with 2023 breaking multiple world records. In China, 52.2°C were recorded at one point and the coastal waters near Florida, USA, were as warm as a hot tub. This is because of the combination of climate change and El NiƱo , both of which make the effects of the other worse. But we can’t push the blame onto El NiƱo. When analysed it became clear that without human made climate change the USA heat records would have been almost impossible. So what exactly are the effects of such high temperatures. A study in Europe found that the 2022 heatwave possibly caused over 70 000 heat related deaths. Although it is sometimes hard to tell whether or not someone died from the heat or from something else, after analysing the data the team found that their original estimate of 62 000 people (which is still a lot) was probably ...
Post a Comment
Read more

December Top Tips | 10 ways to re-purpose a plastic bottle

By
Welcome to December! We thought it would be cool to find 10 ways you can use a plastic bottle even after you have refilled it gazillion times, so you don't waste all the plastic . Because, even if you try to avoid plastic bottles at all costs, you will inevitably end up using hundreds of them throughout your life. The impact on the environment is undisputed, from the land animals to the creatures of our seas, plastic bottles can have a detrimental impact. But we can reuse them in lots of fun ways, here are our ten favourites. Have a good December and a great new year, you'll hear from us! 1. Bird Feeder At one of our blog meet-ups, we actually made a bird feeder out of an old plastic bottle, so this is definitely one we can vouch for. It's super simple, as long as you have some good scissors to cut the bottle and a suitable place to hang it. Below is a photograph of ours for some inspiration, and there are plenty of resources online to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

100 amazing animal facts | 100th post special

By
Hi! This is our 100th post and to celebrate, we have decided to present you with 100 absolutely random facts about animals. Enjoy! The loudest animal in the world is a 2cm long prawn, the pistol shrimp. Hummingbirds are the only birds that are known to fly backwards. One bite from the world's most powerful snake can kill 100 people, the inland taipan. Mosquitoes kill 725 000 people a year making them the most dangerous animals in the world. The mayfly has the shortest known lifespan in the world, only 24 hours. The horned lizard can shot blood from its own eyes. Koalas can sleep for 22 hours a day. Swifts can fly for almost an entire year without landing. Garden snails have 14 000 teeth. The tongue of the blue whale weighs as much as a car.  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wildfires

By
Welcome back to Green World, In the last few months, wildfires have been raging across the globe. Hawaii, Canada, the USA, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Tunisia and countless more have been affected. But what are the environmental impacts of such a blaze? The USA has had an average of over 70 000 wildfires a year since 2000. In 2020, Californian wildfires emitted more than 90 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is more than the state's power industry emits per year. It is estimated that humans start 87% of wildfires. Around the world, 4 million squ. km are hit by wildfires every single year. This emits vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which fuels climate change . The smoke causes air pollution in the entire surrounding area and can lead to respiratory problems in humans. The air pollution also kills birds, including those migrating through the area. Studies also show that socially vulnerable populations are more at risk of harm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coral reefs

By
Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...
Post a Comment
Read more

Energy comparison: solar (PV) panels

By
Hi everyone, Today I'm looking into the first on a long list of energy sources: solar (PV) panels. Are they actually sustainable and could they become our main energy source in the near future? After all, enough energy from the sun reaches the earth in 90 minutes to cover the entire world's energy consumption for a whole year! How they work There are a couple of ways to transform energy from the sun into electricity. The one we are looking at today is solar panels also known as solar photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic (PV) technology is the key to solar panels. A solar panel is made of many PV cells. A single PV cell will produce 1-2 watts of power. They are very thin and are normally protected by glass and/or plastics. This is the best explanation I could find (click here for the source): When the semiconductor is exposed to light, it absorbs the light’s energy and transfers it to negatively charged particles in the material calle...
Post a Comment
Read more

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

By
Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day.  Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Announcement: Factfile

By
This image is owned by a blog editor.
Post a Comment
Read more

February 2021 Factfile - a bit of news from the last month and more!

By
Hi Everyone! Welcome to February's factfile! We are very sorry that we have not posted very much so far in 2021 but we are going to hopefully make up for it in the spring. News: Source- BBC Newsround The great yellow bumblebee has been spotted in Scotland! They used to be common in the UK but their population declined by about 80% in the last century. The find is a spark of hope as it is currently endangered. This is thought to be because of a decline in natural flower meadows and a boost in farming. The team of conservationists that found it were thrilled and when we heard about it we wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't heard! Source- Guardian In the 1840s a bird was caught in the East Indies. It had never been seen before and Charles Lucien Bonaparte (Napoleon's nephew) named it the black-browed babbler. The species wasn't seen again, so the only proof that it had ever existed was a stuffed specimen. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

23.08.2020 Animal of the week: Little Egret

By
Hi everyone, This week's animal is the Little Egret. This is a less well-known bird, so we are excited to share it with you! Habitat Little Egrets are a species of small heron and live in many different places across the world such as Africa, Australia, southern Asia, Europe and the UK. Like herons, Little Egrets live in open spaces that have a lake or river running through them. Some of the ones that live in Europe migrate to Africa. Diet Because it is an aquatic bird, the Little Egret feeds on a range of fish, amphibians, small reptiles and birds, insects and worms. They aren't fussy! Some Little Egrets have made use of humans and have been known to throw bread into the water to attract fish for it to eat. Dangers Little Egrets are classed as Least Concern , so their numbers aren't declining like many other amazing birds are at the moment. That's all for this week, we hope you have learnt some new facts! Images: 1...
1 comment
Read more