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Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil
Termites constitute a considerable fraction of the animal biomass in tropical forest, but little quantitative data are available that indicates their importance in the processes of wood decomposition. This study evaluated the participation of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Isoptera: Termitidae...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
University of Wisconsin Library
2010
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3383420/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20673190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.010.7201 |
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author | Vasconcellos, Alexandre Moura, Flávia Maria da Silva |
author_facet | Vasconcellos, Alexandre Moura, Flávia Maria da Silva |
author_sort | Vasconcellos, Alexandre |
collection | PubMed |
description | Termites constitute a considerable fraction of the animal biomass in tropical forest, but little quantitative data are available that indicates their importance in the processes of wood decomposition. This study evaluated the participation of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Isoptera: Termitidae), N. ephratae (Holmgren), and N. macrocephalus (Silvestri) in the consumption of the wood litter in a remnant area of Atlantic Coastal Forest in northeastern Brazil. The populations of this species were quantified in nests and in decomposing tree trunks, while the rate of wood consumption was determined in the laboratory using wood test-blocks of Clitoria fairchildiana Howard (Fabales: Fabaceae), Cecropia sp. (Urticales: Cecropiaceae), and Protium heptaphyllum (Aublet) Marchand (Sapindales: Burseraceae). The abundance of the three species of termites varied from 40.8 to 462.2 individuals/m(2). The average dry wood consumption for the three species was 9.4 mg/g of termites (fresh weight)/day, with N. macrocephalus demonstrating the greatest consumption (12.1 mg/g of termite (fresh weight)/day). Wood consumption by the three species of Nasutitermes was estimated to be 66.9 kg of dry wood /ha/year, corresponding to approximately 2.9% of the annual production of wood-litter in the study area. This consumption, together with that of the other 18 exclusively wood-feeders termite species known to occur in the area, indicates the important participation of termites in removing wood-litter within the Atlantic Coastal Forest domain. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3383420 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2010 |
publisher | University of Wisconsin Library |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-33834202012-06-28 Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil Vasconcellos, Alexandre Moura, Flávia Maria da Silva J Insect Sci Article Termites constitute a considerable fraction of the animal biomass in tropical forest, but little quantitative data are available that indicates their importance in the processes of wood decomposition. This study evaluated the participation of Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) (Isoptera: Termitidae), N. ephratae (Holmgren), and N. macrocephalus (Silvestri) in the consumption of the wood litter in a remnant area of Atlantic Coastal Forest in northeastern Brazil. The populations of this species were quantified in nests and in decomposing tree trunks, while the rate of wood consumption was determined in the laboratory using wood test-blocks of Clitoria fairchildiana Howard (Fabales: Fabaceae), Cecropia sp. (Urticales: Cecropiaceae), and Protium heptaphyllum (Aublet) Marchand (Sapindales: Burseraceae). The abundance of the three species of termites varied from 40.8 to 462.2 individuals/m(2). The average dry wood consumption for the three species was 9.4 mg/g of termites (fresh weight)/day, with N. macrocephalus demonstrating the greatest consumption (12.1 mg/g of termite (fresh weight)/day). Wood consumption by the three species of Nasutitermes was estimated to be 66.9 kg of dry wood /ha/year, corresponding to approximately 2.9% of the annual production of wood-litter in the study area. This consumption, together with that of the other 18 exclusively wood-feeders termite species known to occur in the area, indicates the important participation of termites in removing wood-litter within the Atlantic Coastal Forest domain. University of Wisconsin Library 2010-06-22 /pmc/articles/PMC3383420/ /pubmed/20673190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.010.7201 Text en © 2010 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Article Vasconcellos, Alexandre Moura, Flávia Maria da Silva Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title | Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title_full | Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title_fullStr | Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title_full_unstemmed | Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title_short | Wood Litter Consumption by three Species of Nasutitermes Termites in an Area of the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Northeastern Brazil |
title_sort | wood litter consumption by three species of nasutitermes termites in an area of the atlantic coastal forest in northeastern brazil |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3383420/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20673190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1673/031.010.7201 |
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