" Our dataset represents a massive collecting effort of thousands of scientists, " Schultheiss said.

“我们的数据集展现了数千名科学家的大规模收集工作，”舒尔特斯说。

Schultheiss told Reuters that ants play a very important part in almost every ecosystem on Earth.

舒尔特斯告诉路透社，蚂蚁在地球上几乎每个生态系统中都扮演着非常重要的角色。

" But most of all, it is their high abundance that makes them key ecological players, " Schultheiss said.

“但最重要的是，正是因为它们数量多，才使得它们成为关键的生态参与者”。

Schultheiss said that while humans might find ants " annoying, " there are many reasons we should be thankful for their existence.

舒尔特斯说，虽然人类可能会觉得蚂蚁“让人讨厌”，但我们有很多理由应该感谢它们的存在。

In fact, Schultheiss said ants are so necessary for a series of biological processes that they can be seen as ecosystem engineers.

事实上，舒尔特斯说，蚂蚁是一系列生物过程的必需，它们被视为生态系统工程师。

" There are certain parts of the world where we have little data and we cannot reach reliable estimates for all continents, " Schultheiss said.

“在世界上的某些地区，我们几乎没有数据，我们无法对所有大洲做出可靠的估计。”