Functional structure of ant and termite assemblages in old growth forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo

Abstract

Forested tropical landscapes around the world are being extensively logged and converted to agriculture, with serious consequences for biodiversity and potentially ecosystem functioning. Here we investigate associations between habitat disturbance and functional diversity of ants and termites-two numerically dominant and functionally important taxa in tropical rain forests that perform key roles in predation, decomposition, nutrient cycling and seed dispersal. We compared ant and termite occurrence and composition within standardised volumes of soil and dead wood in old growth forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Termites occurred substantially less frequently in converted habitats than in old growth forest, whereas ant occurrences were highest in logged forest and lowest in old growth forest. All termite feeding groups had low occurrence in disturbed habitats, with soil feeders occurring even less frequently 123Biodivers Conserv (2014) 23:2817-2832 DOI 10.1007/s10531-014-0750-2 than wood feeders. Ant functional groups showed more variable associations, with some opportunist and behaviourally dominant groups being more abundant in degraded habitats. The importance of ants and termites in tropical ecosystems and such differing patterns of assemblage variation suggest that ecosystem functioning may be significantly altered in converted habitats.

Spatial heterogeneity of soil quality around mature oil palms receiving mineral fertilization

“…They showed that earthworm density varied with the type of soil and with the age of the plantation. We found a very low termite density in our study (3e4 ind m À2 ) in agreement with Luke et al [39] who showed that termites occurred less frequently in converted habitats such as oil palm plantation than in old growth forest in Malaysia. However, Lavelle et al [4] found a termite density of 2022 ind m À2 in a Colombian oil palm plantation.…”

The impact of edge effect on termite community (Blattodea: Isoptera) in fragments of Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

“…substitution of species). On a local scale, increment of temperature and humidity may also affect negatively the humivorous guild due to greater sensitivity to desiccation (see Eggleton et al, 1994Eggleton et al, , 2002Davies, 2002;Jones et al, 2003;Luke et al, 2014).…”

“…Termite species have been shown to be responsive to environmental disturbance (Souza and Brown, 1994;Davies, 2002;Luke et al, 2014). However, mechanisms in which habitat fragmentation alters the community structure of these insects are still poorly studied.…”

Influence of regions, land uses and soil properties on termite and ant communities in agricultural landscapes of the Colombian Llanos

“…Typically, soil ecosystem engineers modify and in some instances may determine the major physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the soil [7,8,9,10,11], especially those associated with soil aggregate stability and fertility [10,12]. As social insects with high abundance and biomass [13], and active in nest building and tunneling, termites and ants are hypothesized to deliver a number of services including contribution to organic matter decomposition, nutrient recycling, bioturbation, tilth, porosity and cation exchange capacity [5,14,15,16]. In addition, their consumption or manipulation of organic materials creates biogenic 5 structures [3] that can be significant components of the soil profile, and as they usually comprise mixtures of clay and organic materials, they exist as microsites for biological transformations [5].…”

“…Because many of these changes lead to a rapid decline in fertility or erosion [13] comparison of the fauna across mosaic landscapes and between different land uses and regions provides both an indirect test of the validity of the soil engineer concept and guidance for future management of cropping systems [19,20,21].…”