Hidden interactions

Leafcutter ants assiduously farming fungus, bumblebees picking up tiny amounts of electricity given off by flowers – all part of an invisible tapestry of interaction that is unfolding all around us. This episode celebrates the intricacy of our natural world.   Did you know that when antelopes browse on an acacia’s leaves, the tree will emit ethylene which acts as an alarm signal to other acacias nearby? The gas can spread 45 metres. Within half an hour, the trees that pick up the signal flush their leaves with very bitter tannins, to make them less palatable to the antelopes. In high concentrations, the tannins can even be fatal.   Intrigued? Listen on! Sharing their discoveries of these complex and subtle interactions are: Daniel Robert, professor of Bionanoscience at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, who is investigating how insects interact with the world around them using tiny charges of static electricity. Ted Turlings is based at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland where is a professor of Chemical Ecology. By unravelling how plants defend themselves against insect attacks, Turlings’ team hopes to create novel, sustainable methods of pest control. Associate professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, Jonathan Shik, is particularly interested in leafcutter ants and their sophisticated farming of their fungus gardens.

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