Tropical forests are important regulators of the flux and storage of carbon, water, and energy in the Biosphere, and they are the habitat of more than three-fourths of the world’s plant and animal species. These ecosystems are also undergoing rapid conversion through pasture formation, shifting cultivation and timber highgrading as the people of tropical nations turn to forestlands for sustenance and wealth.
Leafcutter Ant Nests Inhibit Low-Intensity Fire Spread in the Understory of Transitional Forests at the Amazon's Forest-Savanna Boundary
Leaf-cutter ants (Atta spp.) remove leaf litter and woody debris—potential fuels—in and around their nests and foraging trails. We conducted single and three annual experimental fires to determine the effects of this leaf-cutter ant activity on the behavior of...