Olivia Goderis - Ants In Our Environment

Olivia Goderis' end-of-season presentation as part of the 2025 Youth Environmental Stewardship Program.

(0:00:00) Okay, you're good to go. All right. Hello everyone. Thank you for coming. Again, my name is Olivia Goderis and I'm a second year student here with the Environmental Youth Stewardship Program. Out of all the eye-opening information I've learned throughout this summer, I've decided to focus in on understanding ants within our environment.

(0:00:24) Throughout this experience of working with the crew in our very own environment, I've been able to recognize signs of our ecosystem suffering. So typical things that we have seen just by doing our own field work and plant surveys are things like infestations and fungus. Now not all the time, but majority of the time, I've seen this to be caused by ants. Ants specifically have began to get out of control in recent years due to changing weather patterns,

(0:00:53) and predator loss. Things like infestations and fungus are just the beginning signs of our environment's response.

So some additional signs we are seeing within our own environment are things like minimal species diversity, so just one or two species taking over an entire area, and another response we are seeing is hyper competition.

(0:01:19) So this is a hyper competition within like one singular ecosystem. So because these plants are just pushing all of their energy into the simple act of just surviving, we start to see that the overall quality of these plants are suffering. With these plants so often suffering, we then see this huge ant population continue to get ahead.

(0:01:46) So I do want to note before moving on that ants are not a species that we should just wipe out completely. Taking out the entire ant population will not solve these problems within our environment. Ants have an appreciated and important role in our ecosystems. It is just when they overpopulate that it becomes this problem. As to why ants need predators. So, one thing we realized is contributing to the overpopulation of ants.

(0:02:14) is that we've lost a good portion of their predators. Ants need predators to manage their numbers and keep their ant population from taking over. Birds specifically are ant predators that we haven't seen as much around. Songbirds are a big one that used to eat the ants at a rate that kept the population manageable, specifically the kingbird. We also see the flycatcher family less often, along with the warbler family.

(0:02:43) and cat birds. Then, regarding animals, we've learned ant predators to include animals such as bears, skunks, coyotes, and raccoons. So, when I started to become curious as to what we could do to possibly overcome this so-called ant problem, I knew the first step was understanding what management looked like in the past.

So, for Indigenous people, management of land was based on survival. This included things like food security, minimal water management, using animals to control water, and moving wild plants. Ojibwe people understood and practiced contour gardening and observational strategies. Ojibwe people understood what they saw as the cycles within our environment. So this meant observing plants, animals, and weather.

(0:03:41) watching how animals and plants behaved, and getting insight on what to expect for upcoming seasons. Even the life cycles of animals were observed that way. It was all observational. They were being a part of the environment. That is how they learned to survive. In the past, Ojibwe people also used controlled burns for management of the land. One example of a specific controlled burn practice was surrounding the ant population.

(0:04:11) It had to do with the fungus Ojibwe people began to observe on the bottom of black poplar trees. They learned the infestation to be a result of ant activity. After having learned this, Ojibwe people would monitor these specific trees and set fire to the area to get rid of ants. Fungus is very harmful to tree health as to why the Ojibwe people targeted these fungus-filled areas.

(0:04:38) to restore forest health before it got out of hand. Now, today, because of less land management, we see that specific kind of fungus not only on black poplar but also various other trees, even targeting oaks.

So regarding possible solutions, first things first, we need to let people know that this is an increasing problem within our environment.

(0:05:06) Speaking from experience, it's hard to dedicate time to issues like this if you don't even know they exist. Seeing firsthand our forests are suffering. Learning from Dave and Finn that we need to spread the word has helped me understand the power of sharing learned knowledge. It is all about functionality of the environment. We need to work with our environment and create a functional habitat that plants, insects,

(0:05:35) animals and humans can live together in. We understand that our weather is changing and we are losing our antipredators like songbirds. In order to bring species like these back into our local ecosystems, we encourage the idea of bird sanctuaries. A bird sanctuary is something that both you and I can do and build in our own yards. When we talk about this idea on a small scale, we look at bird feeders,

(0:06:05) seed, water, and flowers. It is also recommended to build these sanctuaries in an area safe away from cats. With these bird sanctuaries, we can possibly reintroduce these ant predators that we've lost throughout recent years. Another possible solution that we talk about is the possibility of controlled burns. Although it is needed, how we do it will make the big difference.

(0:06:33) It would be a cautionary act now because we are unaware of which seeds are on which land we could potentially germinate, which could cause a bigger problem in itself. Seeds are moving, so that is a danger to consider before we think about conducting these controlled burns. Alright, so we aren't going to see positive change until people like you and me contribute.

(0:06:59) I feel a responsibility to take action and use my voice to encourage people, friends or strangers, to care for the future of our environment. I speak on this not only because I am a student in this program, but also because this is our home and our environment. We have to realize that the state of these ecosystems are heavily influenced by our actions. So spread this knowledge, build your bird sanctuaries, and encourage others to do so as well.

(0:07:30) Thank you.