The mound-building termite Macrotermes michaelseni as an ecosystem engineer

Journal of Tropical Ecology - Tập 14 Số 4 - Trang 507-520 - 1998
J. Mark Dangerfield1, T.S. McCarthy2, W.N. Ellery3
1Commonwealth Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
2Department of Geology, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, South Africa
3Department of Geographical and Environmental Sciences, University of Natal, King George V Avenue, 4001 Durban, South Africa

Tóm tắt

Many organisms create or alter resource flows that affect the composition and spatial arrangement of current and future organismal diversity. The phenomenon called ecosystem engineering is considered with a case study of the mound building termite Macrotermes michaelseni. It is argued that this species acts as an ecosystem engineer across a range of spatial scales, from alteration of local infiltration rates to the creation of landscape mosaics, and that its impacts accrue because of the initiation of biophysical processes that often include feedback mechanisms. These changes to resource flows are likely to persist for long periods and constrain the biological structure of the habitat. The value of ecosystem engineering is discussed as a holistic way of understanding the complexity of tropical ecology.

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Journal of Tropical Ecology

Tập 14 Số 4

507-520

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