Survival of Ants Under Famine Conditions: Modeling Resilience to Environmental Stress

Overview

Disasters can have a big effect on ecosystems and survival of different species. The goal of this experiment is to study how droughts and famine affect animals, specifically ants. Ants have been around for 175 million years and have survived through many disasters. The purpose is to understand how ants react to different amounts of resources to test their ability to adapt and survive through different conditions. An equal amount of ants were put into three separate tanks with different amounts of food and water which were classified as level 1 to 3. Ants in level 1 were given the least amount of resources while level 3 was given the most and level 2 was right in the middle between them. Each tank initially had 20 ants. In level 1 and 3, there were three surviving ants after four weeks, while level 2 had none left alive. Level 1 ants were the most resilient of them all by making their water last the longest so they could survive when they needed it the most. Level 2 ants took their water for granted and filled it with dirt to build their tunnels which did not help them survive in the last stretch of the experiment. This project contributes to the area that I worked in by helping people understand how droughts and famine affects animals. My objective was met for my project since different behaviors and results were observed in the ants based on their level of resources.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Zoology (Junior Division) · Entry J-20-09

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