Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Korb, J.
Right arrow Articles by Linsenmair, K. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Korb, J.
Right arrow Articles by Linsenmair, K. E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 10 No. 3: 312-316
© 1999 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

The architecture of termite mounds: a result of a trade-off between thermoregulation and gas exchange?

Judith Korb and Karl Eduard Linsenmair

Theodor Boveri Institut, Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany

Address correspondence to J. Korb. E-mail: jkorb{at}biozentrum.uniwuerzburog.de

We examined the influence of gas exchange on the architecture of termite mounds. In Comoé National Park (Côte d'Ivoire), Macrotermes bellicosus builds, as an adaptation to ambient temperature conditions, differently shaped mounds in the shrub savanna and the gallery forest. Previous studies suggested that there might be a constraint that limits the degree of thermal insulation of the interior (i.e., nest) of the mounds in environments with relatively low ambient temperatures. This factor causes, in proximate terms, suboptimal low nest temperatures and ultimately leads to reduced reproductive success in the gallery forest. In this study, we examined whether the necessity for gas exchange might constrain mound architecture. We measured CO2 concentrations in the air channels of mounds in different habitats and under manipulated temperature regimes. During both the dry and the rainy season we found higher CO2 concentrations in mounds of the gallery forest than in mounds of the savanna. Additional measurements in forest mounds, architecturally resembling those of the savanna due to an experimental increase in ambient temperatures, revealed lower CO2 concentrations than unmanipulated mounds in this habitat. Generally, concentrations were higher during the rainy season compared to the dry season and lower during day than during night. Summarizing these results we present a model that illustrates this trade-off between thermoregulation and gas exchange under different temperature regimes. Both factors together result in different mound architectures under different environmental temperatures and may finally limit the distribution of this species.

Key words: gallery forest, gas exchange, Ivory Coast, mound architecture, savanna, thermoregulation, termites.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
J. Korb and K. E. Linsenmair
Ventilation of termite mounds: new results require a new model
Behav. Ecol., September 1, 2000; 11(5): 486 - 494.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.