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Ants may hold the key to Lake Tahoe’s clarity, researchers say

Posted by: Maven on November 19, 2007 at 1:57 pm

From Yuba.net:

Ants are often considered nuisances, pests that are to be quickly eradicated and forgotten. Yet, according to a team of scientists that includes Monte Sanford, a Ph.D. student, and Dennis Murphy, a professor in the Biology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno, ants could hold important keys to improving water clarity at Lake Tahoe and in maintaining ecological health in the Lake Tahoe basin.

Sanford says that one of the more common types of ants at Tahoe, “aerator ants” — which are ant species that construct nests and extensive tunnel networks in the ground — “can play a substantial role in facilitating water infiltration in forests, which can affect the clarity of the lake’s waters. The study reminds us that we tend to overlook the little things that run the world,” Murphy said.

The ants’ contribution is simple, but important.

To read the rest of this article from Yuba.net, click here.

November 19, 2007 · Filed Under Lake Tahoe, the Sierras & foothills

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