Harvester ant nests can go down 20 feet deep and can extend out even further horizontally. There is usually only one entrance that is cleared of all vegetation and roots by the ants. Each colony can contain up to 20,000 individual ants. They are carrying seeds down to be inoculated by mycelium/ fungi and eating the sugary exudates of the fungi. This means they are practicing agriculture.
Clearly being right on the edge of one of these colonies is good for plants as these cover crops are thriving and much taller and greener than the surrounding area. I can only speculate here but the ant mounds seem to allow more airflow, moisture and organic matter to get deep into the soil where plants can benefit from it.
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