Forestry recovery staff

1995/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ekologia

Atta sexdens is the ant you can see in the attached image. This ant is the lavish enemy of the peasants of the Amazon, which destroys their crops. The ant seems insatiable and the forest plants are preferred. Farmers have used countless tricks to end the ant, but all efforts have been useless so far. The ant uses surprising mechanisms of self-protection and ensures the survival of the species and its reproduction.

However, a group of researchers from Brazil and the United States believe that this capacity will protect the Amazon. Atta sexdens is an ant that can be more useful than expected to recover lands that have been left without resources by forest exploitation. In the opinion of these biologists, the ant alters the physical and chemical composition of the soil and allows to capture the nutrients it needs.