Today, I visit my wonderful backyard to discuss the habitat that I not only live in but share with undomesticated plants and animals. We will touch base on the three groups of the organism that maintain the ecosystem that is my veggie garden and the significance and characteristics of an Ant Colony.
The Habitat I live in
My vegetable garden at home is essentially a full-on ecosystem. While walking through my yard I notice the different groups of the organism that work together making this process possible. These three groups of organisms working together within my vegetable garden are producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Producers, such as the plants in the garden, are the foundation of the ecosystem and are essential for producing the food or energy sources that the consumers need for survival.
Consumers do exactly that, they consume producers and excrete any waste left over.
Decomposers clean up after the other two. Breaking down rotten fruits, old vines, and waste excreted as byproducts from consumers are the garbage disposal of the ecosystem.
You take a look in the main bed and see tall tomato plants with Monarch Butterflies on the flowers and fungi growing in the compost around the base of the plants. As the plants grow and the animals feed and turn food into waste you can see the fungi and decomposers jumping to life during their time to shine. Each plant or animal works together keeping harmony amongst the ecosystem.
The Neighbors
The undomesticated plants in my yard such as wildflowers and zinnias, all produce their energy from sunlight by converting light into energy via photosynthesis.
The animals that frequent my yard are typically looking for food and scraps to get them a decent meal in for the day. They feed on the plants and their fruits and rely on the producers of the ecosystem.
The hummingbird scouts mark the most promising locations for the rest of the charm each year and by establishing a large plot of flowers this ensures that I naturally bring in the insects that pollinate my garden.
Stop killing Ants
When you think about something of significance, Ants, the insects, are not the first thing that comes to mind. When you mention energy, patience, and strength, a popular sports coach or an athlete comes to mind. What if I told you that we mention those three words because we are describing ant colonies.
Organization and group planning are natural traits exhibited within a colony of ants. Some argue that we literally cannot live without ants and they outnumber us by almost 2 million to 1.
Ants have been called ecosystem engineers and they perform all sorts of vital services. Without ants, our soil would suffer and wouldn’t drain as efficiently causing the chemistry of the soil to be off-balance.
They also do the work for some plants by moving their seeds to germinate and they attack and kill pests.
It’s safe to say that ants are vital to our survival.