According to a recent study, there are at least 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. However, even that astounding number may be an underestimation of the true number of the insects, which are an important component of ecosystems all around the world.
To assess the effects of habitat changes, especially those brought on by climate change, it is crucial to determine the worldwide population of ants.
Ants are important because they spread seeds, host organisms, and act as either predators or prey.
The number of ants in the world has already been estimated by some research, but the amount they came up with was far lower than 20 quadrillion, or 20 million billion.
Researchers examined 465 studies that counted the number of ants in the field locally for this latest attempt, which was published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Two conventional methods were employed in the countless studies: setting up traps to catch ants that passed by for a predetermined amount of time, or counting the number of ants on a specific area of fallen leaves on the ground.
All continents have been surveyed, but central Africa and Asia were two main regions with scant or no data.
Because of this, "the true quantity of ants globally is likely to be much bigger" than anticipated, according to the paper. For us to have a complete picture of insect diversity, we must fill in the gaps that are still there, the scientists write.
There are more than 15,700 known species and subspecies of ants in the globe, and there are probably many more that have yet to be found.
However, over two-thirds of them are found in just two types of ecosystems: tropical forests and savannahs.
Based on the estimated number of ants, it is believed that their total global biomass is 12 megatons of dry carbon, which is greater than the combined biomass of wild birds and animals and accounts for 20% of the biomass of people.
Future research will focus on how the environment affects the small organisms' population density.
