Effects of termite exclusion on decay of heavy and light hardwood in a tropical rain forest of Peninsular Malaysia

Takamura, Kiyoko

doi:10.1017/s0266467401001407

Cited by 30 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…The termites outcompeted fungi, and possibly suppressed their decay rates, in the earliest decay periods and in the softest woods (Bultman & Southwell, 1976). Other estimates of termite effects from natural exclusion experiments do show similar patterns Songwe et al, 1995;Takamura & Kirton, 1999), but the data are too limited to draw definitive conclusions.…”

Section: Physical Properties Of Stemsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted, burned, or consumed?

Cornwell

Cornelissen

Allison

et al. 2009

Global Change Biology

346

379

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Wood represents the defining feature of forest systems, and often the carbon in woody debris has a long residence time. Globally, coarse dead wood contains 36-72 Pg C, and understanding what controls the fate of this C is important for predicting C cycle responses to global change. The fate of a piece of wood may include one or more of the following: microbial decomposition, combustion, consumption by insects, and physical degradation. The probability of each fate is a function of both the abiotic environment and the wood traits of the species. The wood produced by different species varies substantially in chemical, micro-and macro-morphological traits; many of these characteristics of living species have 'afterlife' effects on the fate and turnover rate of dead wood. The colonization of dead wood by microbes and their activity depends on a large suite of wood chemical and anatomical traits, as well as whole-plant traits such as stem-diameter distributions. Fire consumption is driven by a slightly narrower range of traits with little dependence on wood anatomy. Wood turnover due to insects mainly depends on wood density and secondary chemistry. Physical degradation is a relatively minor loss pathway for most systems, which depends on wood chemistry and environmental conditions. We conclude that information about the traits of woody plants could be extremely useful for modeling and predicting rates of wood turnover across ecosystems. We demonstrate how this trait-based approach is currently limited by oversimplified treatment of dead wood pools in several leading global C models and by a lack of quantitative empirical data linking woody plant traits with the probability and rate of each turnover pathway. Explicitly including plant traits and woody debris pools in global vegetation climate models would improve predictions of wood turnover and its feedback to climate.

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Section: Physical Properties Of Stemsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted, burned, or consumed?

Cornwell

Cornelissen

Allison

et al. 2009

Global Change Biology

346

379

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…That there were no differences in nitrogen content among treatments suggests that the balance of fungi and invertebrate decomposers and their effects on nutrient immobilization and release [22,23] were not significantly influenced by burn frequency. Taken together, the results from this study indicate that low intensity dormant season prescribed burns have little effect on the amount of coarse woody debris in longleaf pine forests and that termites and possibly other decomposers are highly resilient to the frequent fire regimes commonplace across the southeastern Coastal Plain [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, the activities of termites and other wood-feeding invertebrates are thought to contribute to the release of N and other nutrients [22,23]. Thus, we measured N content in our logs to provide an indication of fungal and insect activity and a means to determine how prescribed burning affects nutrient dynamics in logs.…”

Section: Wood Decomposition and Nitrogen (N) Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Prescribed Fire Frequency on Coarse Woody Debris Volume, Decomposition and Termite Activity in the Longleaf Pine Flatwoods of Florida

Hanula

Ulyshen

Wade

2012

Forests

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Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystems have been reduced dramatically throughout their range. Prescribed burning is considered the best way to restore and maintain plant communities associated with longleaf pine, but little is known about its effects on coarse woody debris and associated organisms. We conducted a 5-year study on the Osceola National Forest in northeastern Florida to determine how dormant-season prescribed burns at different frequencies (annual, biennial, quadrennial or unburned) applied over a 40-year period affected coarse woody debris volume, decomposition and nitrogen content, and subterranean termite (Reticulitermes spp.) activity. Burn frequency had no effect on standing dead tree or log volumes. However, freshly cut longleaf pine logs placed in the plots for four years lost significantly less mass in annually burned plots than in unburned plots. The annual exponential decay coefficient estimate from all logs was 0.14 yr −1 (SE = 0.01), with the estimated times for 50 and 95% loss being 5 and 21.4 years, respectively. Termite presence was unaffected by frequent burning, suggesting they were able to survive the fires underground or within wood, and that winter burning did not deplete their food resources.

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“…The wood density is a representative property, indicating resistance from fungi and pathogens. Previous studies have found that termites preferentially feed on dead wood with low wood density (Gentry & Whitford, 1982;Takamura et al, 2001). Another possible explanation is the difference in chemical composition of stems among species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Changes in the Contribution of Termites to Mass Loss of Dead Wood among Three Tree Species during 23 Months in a Lowland Tropical Rainforest

Roh¹,

Lee²,

Li³

et al. 2018

Sociobiology

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This study investigated the contribution of termites to mass loss of dead wood (Macaranga bancana, Elateriospermum tapos, and Dillenia beccariana) in a lowland tropical rainforest, Brunei Darussalam. Mesh bag method was used to exclude termites, and the mass remaining was monitored after 3, 7, 13, and 23 months. C/N ratio of the samples was analyzed after 13 and 23 months. Initial wood density was 0.63, 0.92, and 1.02 g/cm3 for M. bancana, E. tapos, and D. beccariana, respectively, and the termite contribution to mass loss was an average (range) of 13.05±5.68 (4.17-29.59%), 3.48±1.13 (2.20-6.49), and 3.40±1.92% (0.74-10.78), respectively. Until 7 months, termites contributed highly to mass loss, given the low initial wood density, and interaction effect of species and treatment was significant. After 7 months, the contribution decreased in M. bancana and E. tapos, whereas it increased consistently in D. beccariana. The interaction effect was not significant, whereas differences in C/N ratio among the species were significant, with a lower C/N ratio in M. bancana and E. tapos than in D. beccariana. After 23 months, the differences in C/N ratio were not significant, and ants were present at 40% of control samples in M. bancana and E. tapos. Our results suggest that the contribution of termites to mass loss varies by dead wood species and is temporally variable. Initial wood traits could affect the termite feeding in the beginning, however, termites thereafter could forage in response to the varying C/N ratio among species and predators.

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Effects of termite exclusion on decay of heavy and light hardwood in a tropical rain forest of Peninsular Malaysia

Cited by 30 publications

References 9 publications

Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted, burned, or consumed?

Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted, burned, or consumed?

Impacts of Prescribed Fire Frequency on Coarse Woody Debris Volume, Decomposition and Termite Activity in the Longleaf Pine Flatwoods of Florida

Changes in the Contribution of Termites to Mass Loss of Dead Wood among Three Tree Species during 23 Months in a Lowland Tropical Rainforest

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