Brave work by John Bradford

You ever see those questions on social media along the lines of, “if you had a billion dollars what would you buy”, or,  “if you could go back in time what would you change,” or how about, “is there anything you would exterminate if you could?”    That’s easy:  Imported  Fire Ants!

Well, not so fast now, something I noticed today exploring a swampy shoreline in Cypress Creek Natural Area is how much some plants loves big ant mounds.   Several species seemed to benefit, with the most bodacious beneficiary being  Yellowtops (Flaveria linearis).  All along the shoreline millions of Yellowtops were dead-ish aboveground and defeated.  But not around the bases of the ant mounds.   There the Yellowtops and associates are thriving…big, green, plump, expanding.   Would you expect a species typical of nutrient-poor soils to be opportunistic when it comes to “bonus” nutrition?   Yes, that is a big problem with cat-tails, and harmful algal blooms.    But Yellowtops never hurt anybody.  In fact, they have a star role in contemporary photosynthetic-nutritional research. That probably ties in to their big boost from fire ants.

Flaveria (not this season) by JB.

What are the ant-loving plants getting?   Easy to guess.  Fire ants tote all manner of organic matter back to the nest, enriching the earth with food debris and ant waste. Benefits to mound-side plants are documented for potassium and phosphorus, interesting given that phosphorus tends to be limiting in Florida wetlands.  I’ll bet the plants are getting nitrogen aplenty too.

Hell with a yellowtops halo today

They are also getting soft “tilled, raised, and aerated” soil, obviously dandy at a waterlogged shoreline.   That porous mega-mound looks like it sponges up water at dry times, and drains freely when wet. An then of course there is that defensive perimeter!   What herbivore is going to bother a fire ant ant garden?

Doing today’s photography I kinda made that mistake.  Did you know those odious ankle-biters have secret tunnels radiating from the main mound?    When you ease up close with camera, they sneak up behind from their subway and strike with no appreciation for the one moment they are being appreciated!