Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Runways constructed largely of earthen materials are built by a wide variety of
species and are used to protect foraging worker and soldier termites while they explore
for or exploit arboreal or soil surface resources. Such runways, and sometimes more
substantial structures, are associated with termite attacks on wooden materials within
man's built environment. These often originate from external nests located in the soil.
5.2.3
ASSOCIATED ORGANISMS
As ecosystem engineers, termites greatly influence communities of micro-organisms,
plants and invertebrates within their functional domains. The structures created offer
a diverse range of chemical and physical environments that differ strongly from those
present in the general soil mass.
As seen in Chapter III (Section III.4.3.2.1), specific microbial communities are asso-
ciated with termite digestion, inside the gut and outside, in fungus gardens and other
biogenic structures (Section IV.5.2.2, Table IV.21). The termitosphere as a whole has
large microbial communities. For example, Holt (1995) calculated that microbial
biomass in a mound of the Australian litter feeder
Amitermes laurensis
comprised 16 g
C compared with 31 g for termite biomass carbon. As shown below (Section
IV.5.4.2.3), mycorrhizal fungi may contribute to this biomass.
