ANTS AS KEY BUT OVERLOOKED PROVIDERS OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN NO-TILL AGRICULTURE

The goal of this collaborative proposal is to characterize the overlooked role of ants in no-till agriculture. Ants are ecosystem engineers that define plant and animal communities near their nests. They act aboveground as predators, and belowground by manipulating soil properties. In tropical and subtropical agriculture, their roles have been well defined: they reduce populations of herbivorous insects and weeds and increase soil-nutrient availability. In contrast, the importance of ants is virtually unknown in temperate agricultural systems, like the U.S. Corn Belt. Ants have been largely ignored in this region because historic and ongoing use of tillage limits their abundance and persistence in crop fields. Adoption of no-till farming in some parts of the Corn Belt is providing ants an opportunity to colonize corn and soybean fields and exert their influence on above and belowground function.Our proposal is relevant for the 'Pests and Beneficial Species' program because it advances for a key agricultural system knowledge of ants as beneficial species that could improve control of invertebrate pests and weeds while improving soil quality. The ultimate goal of this research is to encourage ant abundance, activity, and function in no-till agriculture to help improve sustainability of crop production.