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Termites as Mediators of the Water Economy of Arid Savanna Ecosystems

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Dryland Ecohydrology

Abstract

Large termite mounds, constructed by colonies of various species of macrotermitine termites (Isoptera, Termitidae, Macrotermitinae), are dominant features of the arid and semiarid savannas of southern Africa. These mounds can populate a savanna in very high densities, generally one to four colonies per hectare, containing biomass of termites and symbiotic fungi that exceeds the typical biomass of vertebrate and non-termite arthropod herbivores in these systems. Termites’ construction of nest and mound turns over savanna soils at substantial rates, and, like other central-place foragers, they convey significant quantities of inorganic and organic matter into their nests, concentrating it there. In short, macrotermitine termites are “ecosystem engineers,” structuring and controlling to a large extent the flows of energy and matter through tropical savannas (Dangerfield et al. 1998).

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Acknowledgments

I wish to thank two anonymous reviewers who provided many perceptive comments. Original research reported here was supported by a grant from the Earthwatch Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA

    J. Scott Turner

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  1. J. Scott Turner
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Correspondence to J. Scott Turner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Paolo D'Odorico

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Amilcare Porporato

  3. Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA

    Christiane Wilkinson Runyan

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Turner, J.S. (2019). Termites as Mediators of the Water Economy of Arid Savanna Ecosystems. In: D'Odorico, P., Porporato, A., Wilkinson Runyan, C. (eds) Dryland Ecohydrology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23269-6_15

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