In addition to sustainable land use, National Changhua University of Education (NCUE) is involved in various other projects or activities, including the Biology Department’s “Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Program/ Commissioned Planning and Design for Invasive Red Fire Ant Control Operations” , a project of the Kenting National Park, “Yellow Crazy Ant Invasion Status Investigation and Control Strategy Research in Kenting National Park”; “Field Survey on Ants in Farmland with Different Agricultural Practices”; Department of Arts” Ecological Homelands and Urban-Rural Sustainability: A Changhua Ecological Art Project”, Department of Electrical Engineering” Exploration, Development, and Practice of Life”, summarized in the following Table 1. The following section introduces the above-mentioned projects.

Table 1. Related projects and events

The NCUE’s related interventions included:

1. “Taoyuan International Airport Corporation Program/ Commissioned Planning and Design for Invasive Red Fire Ant Control Operations”

Taoyuan International Airport is located in the Dayuan District. In 2004, Taoyuan International Airport determined that the area around Taoyuan Airport, the airport traffic lane, and some parts of the lawn that divide the running chute were invaded by RIFA. The project team has achieved remarkable results after years of prevention and control work. The entire airport area has been lifted from the list of management by the government in May 2018. However, because Taoyuan International Airport is located in the Dayuan District of Taoyuan City, and the current RIFA population distribution and density in the district is still relatively serious, the airport is still considered an area susceptible to RIFA recurrence. The goal of the project team is to continue to assist Taoyuan International Airport in the prevention and control of RIFA in the entire airport area, including manpower planning and execution in the control and investigation field operation, planning for the types of prevention and control agents, method suggestion and execution, RIFA monitoring and control rate reporting, assistance in reports required by the competent authorities, and checking related matters on RIFA prevention and control. Related event photos are shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1. NCUE Taoyuan International Airport RIFA Control Team assisting in on-site control work at Taoyuan Intl. Airport (night shift)

Figure 2. NCUE Taoyuan International Airport RIFA Control Team assisting in on-site detection work at Taoyuan Intl. Airport (RIFA detection dog operations)

Link to the video of the project:

https://www.facebook.com/NCUEEEC/videos/a.1053897732014001/549273452851485

2. Kenting National Park Project: ‘Yellow Crazy Ant Invasion Status Investigation and Control Strategy Research in Kenting National Park

This project assists Kenting National Park in investigating the invasion of Anoplolepis gracilipes (commonly known as yellow crazy ant), one of the world’s top 100 harmful invasive species in the distribution hotspots of land crabs (Houwan, Banana Bay, Barrier Island, and Yungchuan port). Furthermore, cooperating with the Taiwanese, land crab research expert Dr. Liu Hung-Chang, used the data analysis of the number of female crabs during the breeding period when the female crabs release eggs as the sea level lowers. Dr. Liu found that the invasion of Anoplolepis gracilipes is closely related to the decline of the land crab population, which has severely impacted the survival of the native land crab population in the Hengchun Peninsula. It has also been found that in areas with high human disturbance (such as farmland, farmhouse, forest edges, or fishing ports), the number of Anoplolepis gracilipes is significantly higher. Nesting close to man-made buildings allows members in the ant nest to obtain various resources, such as food, nesting space, and irrigation water. In addition to highlighting the importance of preventing and controlling Anoplolepis gracilipes, this project also provides suggestions on prevention and control. In addition to traditional chemical control, habitat restoration and removal of objects that can be used for nesting by Anoplolepis gracilipes seem like possible control measures because they will not only increase the habitat suitable for land crabs, but also hinder the establishment of the colonies of Anoplolepis gracilipes. In view of the impact of Anoplolepis gracilipes on the ecological environment, ant control is long-term work that must be continued to reduce the probability of land crabs being ‘killed by ants’, thereby maintaining the biodiversity in Kenting National Park. Related photos are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Prevention personnel and ant protection volunteers have set up yellow crazy ant bait stations in Kenting

Link to the videos of this project:

https://www.facebook.com/NCUEEEC/videos/a.1053897732014001/321681869737921

3. Field Survey on Ants in Farmland with Different Agricultural Practices

In recent years, the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, has promoted environmentally friendly field management practices with the aim of reducing the impact of agricultural production on ecosystems and fostering sustainable agriculture. This project was conducted from November 2021 to September 2022 in different crops and farming methods, including organic and conventional rice paddies in Chunri, Yuli Township, Hualien, and organic and conventional pomelo orchards in Wulali, Hegang Village. Ant colonies were surveyed every two months using pitfall traps and Winkler bag collection methods. The final report of this project summarized the results of six surveys conducted in these areas, collecting 5 subfamilies, 29 genera, 44 species, and 5,655 ants. Diversity index analysis showed that organic rice paddies had higher Simpson's index, Shannon's index, and ESW index compared to conventional rice fields.  In terms of ant activity and species diversity, there was no significant difference between organic and conventional rice paddies. However, in the pomelo orchards, organic orchards had significantly higher ant activity and species diversity than conventional orchards. This indicates that organic pomelo orchards have better potential in suppressing pests compared to conventional orchards. Regarding dominant species, the big-headed ant (Pheidole megacephala) was the most abundant species in both organic and conventional rice paddies. In organic and conventional pomelo orchards, the Carebara ant and the Tetramorium ant (Tetramorium sp.2) were the dominant species, respectively. These dominant species potentially play essential roles in providing ecological functions that significantly impact the ecosystem.  Multivariate analysis of dominant species composition revealed that the similarity between organic and conventional rice paddies was higher than that between organic and conventional pomelo orchards. This suggests that rice paddy ants exhibit lower susceptibility to pesticide application, which can be attributed to the fact that pesticide spraying in rice paddies mainly targets the crops within the field, thereby minimizing its impact on the biota residing on the ridges. However, there was a greater difference in the composition of dominant species between organic and conventional pomelo orchards, indicating that pomelo orchard ants are more susceptible to pesticides. The species accumulation curve indicates that the distribution curve for both organic and conventional rice paddies has reached saturation, indicating that most ant species have already been collected. However, for both organic and conventional pomelo orchards, the number of species is still growing, suggesting that more species are expected to be collected in the future. This research demonstrates that agricultural production can be harmonized with biodiversity conservation. Ants, as an integral part of the ecosystem, also have the potential to provide ecological services. The ultimate goal is to achieve a social-ecological-production landscape that promotes coexistence, harmony, and sustainability between agricultural ecosystems and biodiversity. Related photos are shown in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4. Produce from Yuli Township, Hualien

Figure 5. Dominant ant species vary in different agricultural land practices and farmland in Hualien

4. Ecological Homelands and Urban-Rural Sustainability: A Changhua Ecological Art

Changhua City Xiangshan Trail Eastern Park Ecological Tour Series Events: 'Xiangshan Trail Eastern Park' Ecological Mini-Tours.

In collaboration with Xiangshan Village, three "Ecological Tour Training Workshops" will be organized. These workshops will include both static ecological explanations of Xiangshan and on-site tour guide training. The goal is to promote ecological mini-tours at the Xiangshan Ecological Art Park, training 48 seed tour guides and serving 78 local residents. This partnership with Xiangshan Village aims to become a community practice partner in the local ecological sustainability system.

Additionally, students will be guided on an "Ecological Mini-Tour" at the partnered site, "Xiangshan Trail Eastern Park." This excursion will complement classroom learning on botany by providing students with real-life observation opportunities and expanding teaching methods through ecological tours. (Figure 6)

Figure 6. Lead participants in hands-on training at the Xiangshan Ecological Park.

Programme activities link: https://www.youtube.com/@USR-ew5yk

5. Exploration, Development, and Practice of Life

Next to the staff dormitory area at the Baoshan Campus, there is a vacant plot of land that was developed into a farming education field (Happy Farm) by Professor Wang Chao-hsing from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, he continuously led students from general education courses to utilize this land for corn production and to achieve the educational goals of farming. The farming is conducted using natural agricultural methods, avoiding pesticides and chemical fertilizers to protect the land and ecosystem (including water quality and insects). (Figure 7)

Figure 7.Photos of Happy Farm in September 2023