WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development
Print ISSN: 1790-5079, E-ISSN: 2224-3496
Volume 13, 2017
Eusocial Ant Nest Management, Template for Land Development
Author: Gero Benckiser
Abstract: The invention of technical N2 fixation (TNF) opened the way to fertilize urea, NH4+, NO3- plant demands surpassing. An enchased the production sites from the thermodynamic equilibrium moving away and yields significantly increasing soil organic matter (SOM) conversion promotes nitrification through NH4+ and CO2 availability in higher amounts. Mobile NO3- ions in access formed dislocate towards groundwater. N2O emissions and land erosion accrete. Contrastingly demonstrate harvester ants how the nest mound surrounding area can be moved away from the thermodynamic equilibrium with organic matter imports, low in N, fungus farming, and a cleverly devised waste management. NH4+ is only limited available, inter alia through N storing in the ant cuticle, and a relatedly limited NO3- formation forces the denitrifying microflora to use NO3- economically by emitting preferred N2 instead of N2O as in N surplus environments. A long term N cycle concerned research, insights into ant nest organisations and the meanwhile reasonably understood interdisciplinary nature of soils allow designing three dimensional economic (x), ecological (y), socio-cultural (z) Gibb‘s triangle diagrams for finding ways how the complex influences of N overloads could brought to an advancing organic/precision farming N management at high yield conservation and the much more complexity and globalisation facing, agriculture, industry and the public supervising governance to approach less environmental threats and more welfare for each citizen. Farmers and governance concerned endeavours in reaching less N overloads, less land degradation, less climate change are discussed.
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Keywords: ants, nest N management, farming, e- acceptor/donator balancing, waste management, governance duties
Pages: 204-215
WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1790-5079 / 2224-3496, Volume 13, 2017, Art. #23