The ants' impact extends beyond lions, for instance, to endangered black rhinos, which have relied on the now-dwindling acacia trees for food, Goheen, at the University of Wyoming, says.

The story of how tiny ants managed to push lions to kill more African buffalo shows how the arrival of an invasive species can affect multiple animals that seem to have no connections.

Native acacia ants are killed by the smaller invasive big-headed ants, leaving whistling-thorn trees defenseless against elephants. Credit: Pat Milligan When people talk about the interconnectedness ...

Big-headed ants, an aggressive and predatory invasive species, are destabilizing that foundation by displacing the native acacia ants. When big-headed ants come to an acacia ant nest, they wreak ...

At the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a wildlife preserve in central Kenya, lions and cheetahs mingle with zebras and elephants across many miles of savannah - grasslands with "whistling thorn" acacia ...

Their study, published in the journal Science, found that the big-headed ants had led to a threefold decline in zebra killings. "This study was a beautiful snapshot of how complicated ecosystems ...

There are more than 20,000 species of ants, including such noticables as picnic ants, sidewalk ants, carpenter ants, and so on. Less noted by most of us, there are also many mutualistic ants that ...

The invading insects kill local acacia ants wherever they find them. And other studies have shown that without defending ants, pachyderms tore down the thorn trees five to seven times more often.

The majestic lions of Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy may never notice the tiny ants that have recently moved into the neighborhood—but the agile predators are feeling the effects because these ...

The invasion of big-headed ants in Kenya is a stark reminder of the fragility of ecosystems and the complex interdependencies among species. Invasive species can disrupt food webs and ecological ...

It all starts with the whistling-thorn acacia trees in the plains of Laikipia, Kenya. Their study, published in the journal Science, found that the big-headed ants had led to a threefold decline ...

Postdoctoral scholar Patrick Milligan recently published a paper that he started during his doctoral studies and is continuing during his National Science Foundation fellowship in Elizabeth Pringle’s ...