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Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna

Both termites and large mammalian herbivores (LMH) are savanna ecosystem engineers that have profound impacts on ecosystem structure and function. Both of these savanna engineers modulate many common and shared dietary resources such as woody and herbaceous plant biomass, yet few studies have addres...

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Autores principales: Charles, Grace K., Riginos, Corinna, Veblen, Kari E., Kimuyu, Duncan M., Young, Truman P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216887/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34188808
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7445
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author Charles, Grace K.
Riginos, Corinna
Veblen, Kari E.
Kimuyu, Duncan M.
Young, Truman P.
author_facet Charles, Grace K.
Riginos, Corinna
Veblen, Kari E.
Kimuyu, Duncan M.
Young, Truman P.
author_sort Charles, Grace K.
collection PubMed
description Both termites and large mammalian herbivores (LMH) are savanna ecosystem engineers that have profound impacts on ecosystem structure and function. Both of these savanna engineers modulate many common and shared dietary resources such as woody and herbaceous plant biomass, yet few studies have addressed how they impact one another. In particular, it is unclear how herbivores may influence the abundance of long‐lived termite mounds via changes in termite dietary resources such as woody and herbaceous biomass. While it has long been assumed that abundance and areal cover of termite mounds in the landscape remain relatively stable, most data are observational, and few experiments have tested how termite mound patterns may respond to biotic factors such as changes in large herbivore communities. Here, we use a broad tree density gradient and two landscape‐scale experimental manipulations—the first a multi‐guild large herbivore exclosure experiment (20 years after establishment) and the second a tree removal experiment (8 years after establishment)—to demonstrate that patterns in Odontotermes termite mound abundance and cover are unexpectedly dynamic. Termite mound abundance, but areal cover not significantly, is positively associated with experimentally controlled presence of cattle, but not wild mesoherbivores (15–1,000 kg) or megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes). Herbaceous productivity and tree density, termite dietary resources that are significantly affected by different LMH treatments, are both positive predictors of termite mound abundance. Experimental reductions of tree densities are associated with lower abundances of termite mounds. These results reveal a richly interacting web of relationships among multiple savanna ecosystem engineers and suggest that termite mound abundance and areal cover are intimately tied to herbivore‐driven resource availability.
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spelling pubmed-82168872021-06-28 Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna Charles, Grace K. Riginos, Corinna Veblen, Kari E. Kimuyu, Duncan M. Young, Truman P. Ecol Evol Original Research Both termites and large mammalian herbivores (LMH) are savanna ecosystem engineers that have profound impacts on ecosystem structure and function. Both of these savanna engineers modulate many common and shared dietary resources such as woody and herbaceous plant biomass, yet few studies have addressed how they impact one another. In particular, it is unclear how herbivores may influence the abundance of long‐lived termite mounds via changes in termite dietary resources such as woody and herbaceous biomass. While it has long been assumed that abundance and areal cover of termite mounds in the landscape remain relatively stable, most data are observational, and few experiments have tested how termite mound patterns may respond to biotic factors such as changes in large herbivore communities. Here, we use a broad tree density gradient and two landscape‐scale experimental manipulations—the first a multi‐guild large herbivore exclosure experiment (20 years after establishment) and the second a tree removal experiment (8 years after establishment)—to demonstrate that patterns in Odontotermes termite mound abundance and cover are unexpectedly dynamic. Termite mound abundance, but areal cover not significantly, is positively associated with experimentally controlled presence of cattle, but not wild mesoherbivores (15–1,000 kg) or megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes). Herbaceous productivity and tree density, termite dietary resources that are significantly affected by different LMH treatments, are both positive predictors of termite mound abundance. Experimental reductions of tree densities are associated with lower abundances of termite mounds. These results reveal a richly interacting web of relationships among multiple savanna ecosystem engineers and suggest that termite mound abundance and areal cover are intimately tied to herbivore‐driven resource availability. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-06-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8216887/ /pubmed/34188808 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7445 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Charles, Grace K.
Riginos, Corinna
Veblen, Kari E.
Kimuyu, Duncan M.
Young, Truman P.
Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title_full Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title_fullStr Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title_full_unstemmed Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title_short Termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a Kenyan savanna
title_sort termite mound cover and abundance respond to herbivore‐mediated biotic changes in a kenyan savanna
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216887/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34188808
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7445
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