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Calcium carbonate in termite galleries – biomineralization or upward transport?

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Abstract

Termites and soil calcium carbonate are major factors in the global carbon cycle: termites by their role in decomposition of organic matter and methane production, and soil calcium carbonate by its storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In arid and semiarid soils, these two factors potentially come together by means of biomineralization of calcium carbonate by termites. In this study, we evaluated this possibility by testing two hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 states that termites biomineralize calcium carbonate internally and use it as a cementing agent for building aboveground galleries. Hypothesis 2 states that termites transport calcium carbonate particles from subsoil horizons to aboveground termite galleries where the carbonate detritus becomes part of the gallery construction. These hypotheses were tested by using (1) field documentation that determined if carbonate-containing galleries only occurred on soils containing calcic horizons, (2) 13C/12C ratios, (3) X-ray diffraction, (4) petrographic thin sections, (5) scanning electron microscopy, and (6) X-ray mapping. Four study sites were evaluated: a C4-grassland site with no calcic horizons in the underlying soil, a C4-grassland site with calcic horizons, a C3-shrubland site with no calcic horizons, and a C3-shrubland site with calcic horizons. The results revealed that carbonate is not ubiquitously present in termite galleries. It only occurs in galleries if subsoil carbonate exists within a depth of 100 cm. 13C/12C ratios of carbonate in termite galleries typically matched 13C/12C ratios of subsoil carbonate. X-ray diffraction revealed that the carbonate mineralogy is calcite in all galleries, in all soils, and in the termites themselves. Thin sections, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray mapping revealed that carbonate exists in the termite gut along with other soil particles and plant opal. Each test argued against the biomineralization hypothesis and for the upward-transport hypothesis. We conclude, therefore, that the gallery carbonate originated from upward transport and that this CaCO3 plays a less active role in short-term carbon sequestration than it would have otherwise played if it had been biomineralized directly by the termites.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this project was provided by the Jornada Basin LTER program (DEB-94111971), International Arid Lands Consortium, the New Mexico State University Agricultural Experimental Station, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development by an Interagency Agreement with the USDA Jornada Experimental Range. The authors appreciate the assistance of Michael Chapman of the Stable Isotope Lab at the Biology Department of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Soumitra Ghoshroy of the electron microscope lab at New Mexico State University. Appreciation is also extended to Arlene Tugel and Jeff Herrick for use of their experimental sites, to William Lindemann for his advice during the study, and to Rebecca Kriamer for her comments on the manuscript. The authors are grateful for the support provided by the staff with the USDA Jornada Experimental Range and the New Mexico State University Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    X. Liu & H. C. Monger

  2. Jornada Experimental Range, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    W. G. Whitford

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  1. X. Liu
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  2. H. C. Monger
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  3. W. G. Whitford
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Correspondence to H. C. Monger.

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Liu, X., Monger, H.C. & Whitford, W.G. Calcium carbonate in termite galleries – biomineralization or upward transport?. Biogeochemistry 82, 241–250 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-006-9067-x

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