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Soil-Feeding Termites: Biology, Microbial Associations and Digestive Mechanisms

  • Chapter
Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology

Abstract

Soil-feeding species are found in 3 subfamilies of higher termites and constitute 67% of all genera. The habit, which may have evolved several times, is principally associated with lowland humid equatorial rainforests, but there are some savanna forms. Soil-feeders can generally be distinguished from wood-feeders by intestinal morphology, the stable isotope ratios of C and N, and by the higher activity of certain elements of the gut flora, notably methanogens and organisms able to ferment reduced and recalcitrant substrates, including aromatics. Soil-feeders emit more methane as free gas, but do not appear to fix N2 in significant amounts. Organic material passing through the gut is further humified, with enrichment in total C, N and fulvic acid compared with parent soil, while humic acid is depleted. Mound materials and galleries made using faeces show enhanced cation exchange capacity, with a redistribution and stabilization of soil organic matter (SOM) and an increase in available phosphorus. Bacterial activity is stimulated in fresh faeces and may contribute to further processing of organic matter. The full range of substrates degraded by soil-feeders is not known: two possibilities discussed are 1) that a range of compounds including polysaccharides are degraded to a limited extent by a generalist gut flora and 2) that a specialized symbiont population degrades reduced substrates such as tannin-protein complexes and polyaromatics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Microbiologie du Sol, Centre ISRA-ORSTOM de Bel-Air, BP 1386, Dakar, Senegal

    Alain Brauman

  2. Tropical Biology and Conservation Unit, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    David E. Bignell

  3. Laboratory of Forest Ecology, Division of Environmental Science and Technology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Ichiro Tayasu

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  1. Alain Brauman
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  2. David E. Bignell
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  3. Ichiro Tayasu
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  1. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 520-2113, Kamitanakami-Hirano, Otsu, Japan

    Takuya Abe  & Masahiko Higashi  & 

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, E1 4NS, London, UK

    David Edward Bignell

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Brauman, A., Bignell, D.E., Tayasu, I. (2000). Soil-Feeding Termites: Biology, Microbial Associations and Digestive Mechanisms. In: Abe, T., Bignell, D.E., Higashi, M. (eds) Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3223-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3223-9_11

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