Ant Presentation by Kyle Bradford

Thursday, January 19, 2023 - 19:00 to 20:30

This is the third in a four-part lecture series "The Little Things That Run the World: An Exploration of the insects in the Farmscape", which describes four fascinating insect groups and their role in regional biodiversity and agriculture.

On Thursday, 19 January 2023, 7pm, Kyle Bradford will present about "From Amazon Warriors to Weed Seed Eaters - Ant Diversity in Columbia County and Their Role in the Farmscape".

Ants perform critical ecosystem services and functions in the environment and live interesting lives, which go largely unnoticed. We have been documenting the ant fauna at Hawthorne Valley Farm and Columbia County at large since 2009. This talk will highlight some of our most interesting local ant species, and discuss new insights into ant diversity patterns on the county scale. Lastly, we will discuss how farming can be conducive to the conservation of rare ant species, and the roles of ants as both pests and predators in agriculture.

This free presentation will be at the Hawthorne Valley Place-based Learning Center (327 Route 21C, Ghent NY), which is in the white building attached to the red barn. If you would like to participate in this event online, please register with Josie and she will send you a Zoom link the day before the event.

Please note that for extra safety of attendees and presenters, this will be a masked event; masks will be available at the event for anyone who may not have one.

Here is the recording of this lecture.