ants! they are probably one of the first insects you interacted with as a child. did you realize they were important? ants are found worldwide and play vital roles in ecosystems including nutrient recycling. the powell lab in the george washington university is investigating turtle ants. these ants are known for their characteristic body armor which allows them to \u201cturtle-up\u201d when faced with predators and competitors. however, one of the key biomes for their diversification, the cerrado, is threatened. watch this video to learn more about the importance of this research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
biodiversity in the cerrado of brazil is threatened; learn about the researchers investigating turtle ants in this unique biodiversity hotspot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9741,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4905,4929,4902,5196,4930],"tags":[985,506,2066,3351,4204,657,591,4206],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptation","category-biodiversity","category-colleges-education","category-past-storyfest","category-science-communication","tag-adaptation","tag-biodiversity","tag-brazil","tag-bugs","tag-cerrado","tag-research","tag-storyfest","tag-threatened-ecosystem"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n