Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T23:21:46.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Survey of subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in a managed silvicultural plantation in Portugal, using a line-intersection method (LIS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2008

T. Nobre ,
L. Nunes  and
D.E. Bignell
T. Nobre
Affiliation:
Queen Mary, University of London, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, London, UK Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Núcleo de Estruturas de Madeira, Avenida do Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, Portugal
L. Nunes*
Affiliation:
Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, Núcleo de Estruturas de Madeira, Avenida do Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, Portugal
D.E. Bignell
Affiliation:
Queen Mary, University of London, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, London, UK
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: +351 21 844 3659 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Subterranean termites (Reticulitermes grassei) were surveyed over successive seasons in a managed eucalyptus plantation in southeastern Portugal for 26 months. Termite activity in seven diameter categories of lying dead wood was investigated by a modified line intersection method (LIS). Each item sampled was inspected and assessed for termite attack and for general (i.e. fungal) decay status using standard protocols. Line intersection is quantitative to the extent that it can link foraging and decay parameters to woody biovolume. It was found that termites selected items with larger diameter, the observed trend showing an exponential character with greater termite attack as diameter increased. Attack by termites was positively associated with prior decay by fungi. A clear positive relationship was shown between rainfall and total woody biovolume containing live termites, underlining the importance of moisture for termite activity. Subterranean termites appeared to be important wood decomposers in the woodland studied, with an average of 30% of lying dead wood branches showing signs of termite attack.

Keywords

Reticulitermes grasseiforestwood decompositionwood decaytermite attack
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 99 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 11 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abe, T. (1987) Evolution of life types in termites. pp. 126–148in Kawano, S., Connel, J.H. & Hidaka, T. (Eds) Evolution and Coadaptation in Biotic Communities. Tokyo, University of Tokyo Press.Google Scholar
Becker, G. (1970) Vergleichende untersuchungen zur Ökologie einiger Reticulitermes-Arten (Ins., Isopt.). Zeitschrift für angewandte Entomologie 65, 183–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G. (1976) Termites and fungi. Material und Organismen 3, 465–477.Google Scholar
Bignell, D.E. (2006) Termites as soil engineers and soil processors. pp. 183–220in König, H. & Varma, A. (Eds) Soil Biology, vol. 6: Intestinal Microorganisms of Soil Invertebrates. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Bignell, D.E. & Eggleton, P. (2000) Termites in ecosystems. pp. 363–388in Abe, T., Bignell, D.E. & Higashi, M. (Eds) Termites, Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bignell, D.E., Eggleton, P., Nunes, L. & Thomas, K.L. (1997) Termites as mediators of carbon fluxes in tropical forest: budgets for carbon dioxide and methane emissions. pp. 109–134in Watt, A.D., Stork, N.E. & Hunter, M.D. (Eds) Forests and Insects. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Chapman & Hall.Google Scholar
Bodine, M.C. & Ueckert, D.N. (1975) Effect of desert termites on herbage and litter in a shortgrass ecosystem. Journal of Range Management 28, 353–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J.A. & Boyce, M.S. (1998) Line transect sampling of Karner blue butterflies (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). Environmental and Ecological Statistics 5, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buxton, R.D. (1981) Changes in the composition and activities of termite communities in relation to changing rainfall. Oecologia 51, 371–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, N.M. (1981) The role of termites in the decomposition of wood and leaf litter in the southern Guinea savanna of Nigeria. Oecologia 51, 389–399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, M.S. & Richard, A.G. (1963) Studies on water relations in North American termites. I. Eastern species of the genus Reticulitermes (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Ecology 44, 600–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, M.S. & Richard, A.G. (1966) Studies on water relations in North American termites. II. Water losses and cuticular structures in Eastern species of Kalotermitidae (Isoptera). Ecology 47, 328–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, R.G., Eggleton, P., Dibog, L., Lawton, R.H., Bignell, D.E., Brauman, A., Hartmann, C., Nunes, L., Holt, J.A. & Rouland, C. (1998) Successional response of a tropical termite assemblage to experimental habitat perturbation. Journal of Applied Ecology 36, 946–962.Google Scholar
Davies, R.G., Eggleton, P., Jones, D.T., Gathorne-Hardy, F.J. & Hernandez, L.M. (2003) Evolution of termite functional diversity, analysis and synthesis of local ecological and regional influences on local species richness. Journal of Biogeography 30, 847–877.Google Scholar
Davy, P. & Miles, R.E. (1977) Sampling theory for opaque spatial specimens. Journal of the Royal Statistical Science, Series B: Methodological 39, 56–65.Google Scholar
Deshmukh, I. (1989) How important are termites in the population ecology of African savannas? Sociobiology 15, 155–168.Google Scholar
Eggleton, P. & Tayasu, I. (2001) Feeding groups, lifetypes and the global ecology of termites. Ecological Research 16, 941–960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggleton, P., Bignell, D.E., Sands, W.A., Mawdsley, N.A., Lawton, J.H., Wood, T.G. & Bignell, N.C. (1996) The diversity, abundance and biomass of termites under differing levels of disturbance in the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, Southern Cameroon. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 351, 51–68.Google Scholar
Eggleton, P., Bignell, D.E., Hauser, S., Dibog, L., Norgrove, L. & Madong, B. (2002) Termite diversity across an anthropogenic gradient in the humid forest zone of West Africa. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 90, 189–202.Google Scholar
Esenther, G.R., Allen, T.C., Casida, J.E. & Shenefelt, R.D. (1961) Termite attractant from fungus-infected wood. Science 134, 50.Google Scholar
European Committee for Standardization (1992) EN 252 – Field test method for determining the relative protective effectiveness of a wood preservative in ground contact. Brussels.Google Scholar
Gentry, J.B. & Whitford, W.G. (1982) The relationship between wood litter infall and relative abundance and feeding activity of subterranean termites Reticulitermes spp. in three southeastern coastal plain habitats. Oecologia 54, 63–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grassé, P.-P. (1986) Termitologia. Tome III. Comportement, Socialité, Ecologie, Evolution, Systématique. 715 pp. Paris, Masson.Google Scholar
Haverty, M.I., Getty, G.M., Copren, K.A. & Lewis, V.R. (1999) Seasonal foraging and feeding behaviour of Reticulitermes spp. (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae) in a wildland and residential location in northern California. Environmental Entomology 28, 1077–1084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedlund, J.C. & Henderson, G. (1999) Effect of available food size on search tunnel formation by the Formosan subterranean termite (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 92, 610–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houseman, R.M., Gold, R.E. & Pawson, B.M. (2001) Resource partitioning in two sympatric species of subterranean termites, Reticulitermes flavipes and Reticulitermes hageni (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Environmental Entomology 30, 673–685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R.A., Lamb, R.W., Sands, W.A., Shittu, R.M., Williams, R.M.C. & Wood, T.G. (1980) A check list of Nigerian termites (Isoptera) with brief notes on their biology and distribution. Nigerian Field 45, 50–64.Google Scholar
Jones, S.C., Nalepa, C.A., McMahan, E.A. & Torres, J.A. (1995) Survey and ecological studies of the termites (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae) of Mona Island. Florida Entomology 78, 307–313.Google Scholar
Jones, D.T., Susilo, F.X., Bignell, D.E., Hardiwinoto, S., Gillison, A.N. & Eggleton, P. (2003) Termite assemblage collapses along a land-use intensification gradient in lowland central Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal Applied Ecology 40, 380–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaiser, L. (1983) Unbiased estimation in line-intercept sampling. Biometrics 39, 965–976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirby, K.J., Reid, C.M., Thomas, R.C. & Goldsmith, F.B. (1998) Preliminary estimates of fallen dead wood and standing dead trees in managed and unmanaged forests in Britain. Journal Applied Ecology 35, 148–155.Google Scholar
Lee, K.E. & Butler, J.H.A. (1977) Termites, soil organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Ecological Bulletin (Stockholm) 25, 544–548.Google Scholar
Lee, K.E. & Wood, T.G. (1971) Termites and Soils. 251 pp. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lenz, M. (1994) Food resources, colony growth and caste development in wood-feeding termites. pp. 159–209in Hunt, J.H. & Nalepa, C.A. (Eds) Nourishment and Evolution in Insect Societies. Boulder, CO, USA, Westview Press.Google Scholar
Lenz, M., Amburgey, T.L., Zi-Hong, D., Mauldin, J.K., Preston, A.F., Rudolph, D. & Williams, E.R. (1991) Interlaboratory studies on termite-wood decay fungi associations, II. Response of termites to Gloeophyllum trabeum grown on different species of wood (Isoptera, Mastotermitidae, Termopsidae, Rhinotermitidae, Termitidae). Sociobiology 18, 203–254.Google Scholar
Lenz, M., Kard, B.M., Mauldin, J.K., Evans, T.A., Etheridge, J.L. & Abbey, H.M. (2000) Size of food resource determines brood placement in Reticulitermes flavipes (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Doc. N° IRG/WP 00-10351. 8 pp. Stockholm, The International Research Group on Wood Preservation.Google Scholar
Lepage, M. (1983) Foraging of Macrotermes spp. (Isoptera, Macrotermitinae) in the tropics. Social Insects in the Tropics 1, 205–217.Google Scholar
Matsumoto, T. & Abe, T. (1979) The role of termites in an equatorial rain forest ecosystem of West Malaysia. II. Litter consumption on the forest floor. Oecology 38, 261–274.Google Scholar
Nakayama, T, Yoshimura, T. & Imamura, Y. (2005) Feeding activities of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes speratus (Kolbe) as affected by moisture content of wood. Journal of Wood Science 51, 60–65.Google Scholar
Nobre, T., Nunes, L., Brinca, L. & Bignell, D.E. (2003) Subterranean termite attack potential of field-test sites, assessment methods and field characterization. Doc. N° IRG/WP 03-10472. 8 pp. Stockholm, The International Research Group on Wood Preservation.Google Scholar
Nobre, T., Nunes, L., Eggleton, D. & Bignell, D.E. (2006) Distribution and genetic variation of Reticulitermes (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae) in Portugal. Heredity 96, 403–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearce, M.J. (1997) Termites: Biology and Pest Management. 172 pp. Wallingford, UK, CAB International.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rouland-Lefèvre, C. (2000) Symbiosis with fungi. pp. 289–306in Abe, T., Bignell, D.E. & Higashi, M. (Eds) Termites, Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Rudolph, D., Glocke, B. & Rathenow, S. (1990) On the role of different humidity parameters for the survival, distribution and ecology of various termite species. Sociobiology 17, 129–140.Google Scholar
Seber, G.A.F. & Peberton, J.R. (1979) The line intercept method for studying plant cuticules from rumen and faecal samples. Journal of Wildlife Management 43, 916–925.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, P. & Sousa, J. (2000) ANDAD, version 7.2. Copyright CVRM/IST.Google Scholar
Sponsler, R.C. & Appel, A.G. (1990) Temperature tolerances of the Formosan and Eastern subterranean termites (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Journal of Thermal Biology 16, 41–44.Google Scholar
Strack, B.H. & Myles, T.G. (1997) Behavioural responses of the eastern subterranean termite to falling temperatures (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 128, 13–17.Google Scholar
Strickland, M. (1950) Differences in toleration of drying between species of termites (Reticulitermes). Ecology 31, 373–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, N.-Y. & Puche, H. (2003) Tunnelling activity of subterranean termites (Isoptera, Rhinotermitidae) in sand with moisture gradients. Journal of Economic Entomology 96, 88–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Wagner, C.F. (1968) The line-intersect method in forest fuel sampling. Forest Science 14, 20–26.Google Scholar
van Wagner, C.F. (1982) Practical aspects of the line-intersect method. Information Report PI-X-12, 18 pp. Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Canadian Forestry Service, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada.Google Scholar
Wang, C. & Powell, J.E. (2001) Survey of termites in the delta experimental forest of Mississipi. Florida Entomologist 84, 222–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, W.G. & Olsen, P.F. (1964) A line intersect technique for assessing logging waste. Forest Science 10, 267–276.Google Scholar
Wood, T.G. (1978) Food and feeding habits of termites. pp. 55–80in Brian, M.V.(Ed.) Production Ecology of Ants and Termites. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wood, T.G. & Sands, W.A. (1978) The role of termites in ecosystems. pp. 245–292in Brian, M.V.(Ed.) Production Ecology of Ants and Termites. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zoberi, M.H. & Grace, J.K. (1990) Fungi associated with the subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes in Ontario. Mycologia 82, 289–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar