Litter Quality Affects Termite Sheeting Production and Water Infiltration in the Soil

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the relationship between termite food preferences and the ecological benefits derived from their activity in terms of soil dynamics and water infiltration. A field study was carried out for six months with different food baits (elephant dung, Acacia leaves, twigs and leaves of Lantana camara as well as Ficus religiosa, Pterocarpus marsupium, Prosopis juliflora, Michelia champaca, Azadirachta indica and Hevea brasiliensis wood stakes) installed on the soil surface in a semi-deciduous forest in southern India. At the end of the experiment we determined bait consumption rates and the amount of soil sheetings covering the different baits. Water infiltration rates were also measured using the Beerkan method. The initial infiltration rates (i.e. average of the first three infiltration rates) under the baits were compared to those at the end of the experiment (average of the last three infiltration rates when the steady state was reached). Three termite species, Odontotermes obesus, O. feae and Microtermes obesi, were found associated with some of the baits in the study area. Among the different baits, elephant dung and Acacia leaves were the most preferred and a relationship was observed between the quantity of soil sheetings and the bait consumption rate. Termite preference for elephant dung and Acacia leaves was also associated with higher water infiltration rates. However, this difference was only significant at the beginning of the experiment and no significant difference was measured once the steady state was reached. In conclusion, we showed that resource quality was of primary importance for soil sheeting production but that the influence of termites on water infiltration remained limited, most likely because of the low stability of their tunnels in the soil.

The distribution of Silicon in soil is influenced by termite bioturbation in South Indian forest soils

“…The presence of grass phytoliths in TM therefore suggests that termites act as primary decomposers of herbivore dungs in the studied area. This hypothesis is in line with recent studies carried out in southern India which showed that elephant dung material is very attractive to termites which prefer this material over carton, wood or leaves (Cheik et al, 2018(Cheik et al, , 2019Shanbhag et al, 2019). Indeed, despite inhabiting forested environments in Karnataka and the Nilgiri Region, elephants preferentially feed on Panicoideae grasses which constitute more than 84% of their annual bulk diet (Baskaran et al 2010).…”

“…Despite the fact that O. obesus can feed on a variety of litter components (e.g. elephant dung, wood and leaves) (Cheik et al, 2018(Cheik et al, , 2019Shanbhag et al, 2019), grasses are mostly consumed by herbivores in Mule Hole catchment. The presence of grass phytoliths in TM therefore suggests that termites act as primary decomposers of herbivore dungs in the studied area.…”

Fitólitos – Uma ferramenta para estudos de reconstituição paleoambiental

“…Normalmente a quantidade de fitólitos diminui em profundidade, mas a sua presença no interior de biotúbulos no horizonte B, preenchidos com materiais do horizonte A, indicam a movimentação de fitólitos pela macrofauna do solo, como observado por CALEGARI et al (2013). Entre a macrofauna do solo (invertebrados do solo > 2mm), as minhocas, cupins e formigas desempenham papéis importantes no controle da dinâmica da estrutura do solo (BOTTINELLI et al 2015, SHANBHAG et al 2019) e, consequentemente, na distribuição dos fitólitos no interior do solo.…”

Selectivity of soil constituents by termites in the construction of Brazilian termite mounds

“…In the process of building their mounds, which involves the formation of tunnels and chambers, termites concentrate organic material -deposits of feces resulting from feeding activity-, clay sized particles and nutrients compared to the control soils (Donovan et al, 2001;Jouquet et al, 2002;Rückamp et al, 2012;Sarcinelli et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2015;Jembere et al, 2017;Traoré et al, 2019;Jouquet et al, 2020). The extent of this selectivity and its differential effects depend on the properties of the soils and their environments (Jouquet et al, 2016b), the termite species and their feeding strategies, as well as available ecological resources (Kaiser et al, 2017;Shanbhag et al, 2019).…”