Changes in Nitrogen Fixation Rates in Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) Maintained in the Laboratory

Insect‐mediated nitrogen dynamics in decomposing wood

“…grew on an N-free medium (Eutick et al, 1978) Heterotermes indicola (Pandey et al, 1992); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1995); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1996); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1997); workers, soldiers, presoldiers, larvae and alates (Curtis & Waller, 1998) (Prestwich & Bentley, 1981); mixed workers and soldiers (Bentley, 1984) Sylvester-Bradley et al (1983) found termites from a single nest to exhibit high rates of acetylene reduction one week but none a week later. The opposite response was observed in other nests, with a week of no detectable acetylene reduction being followed by a week of high activity.…”

“…Another important source of variability in the acetylene reduction rate is the amount of time elapsed between sample collection and the measurement. Numerous researchers have shown a rapid decline in acetylene reduction by termites when held under laboratory conditions (Breznak et al, 1973;Prestwich et al, 1980;Sylvester-Bradley et al, 1983;Lovelock et al, 1985;Pandey et al, 1992;Curtis & Waller, 1995), thus complicating the interpretation of results from the acetylene reduction assay. Such declines are thought to represent a response of termites to disturbance.…”

“…Such declines are thought to represent a response of termites to disturbance. Curtis and Waller (1995) showed that Reticulitermes can recover or even exceed (depending on when the termites were initially collected) initial rates of acetylene reduction after several months of laboratory confinement.…”

“…----Enterobacter from gut grew on an N-free medium (Eutick et al, 1978) Heterotermes indicola Workers - (Ohkuma et al, 1996Kudo et al, 1998) Tracer technique (Fujita & Abe, 2006) - Workers (Pandey et al, 1992); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1995); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1996); workers (Curtis & Waller, 1997); workers, soldiers, presoldiers, larvae and alates (Curtis & Waller, 1998 --Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky) Intact colonies (Prestwich & Bentley, 1981); mixed workers and soldiers (Bentley, 1984) --Tracer technique (Bentley, 1984) -…”

Seasonal patterns of nitrogen fixation in termites

“…Termite nitrogen fixation rates vary among termite species (Breznak 1982), and intraspecific variation results from differences in food quality, termite caste, termite size and seasonal factors (Breznak et al 1973; Prestwich, Bentley & Carpenter 1980; Waller, Breitenbeck & La Fage 1989; Curtis & Waller 1995). Nitrogenase activity is higher in soldiers than workers in some termite species and lower than workers in other species (Prestwich et al 1980).…”