Out of the forest: how termites live inside and outside tropical rainforests

大多数热带白蚁在热带雨林中进化，但它们在热带草地生物群系中占据生态优势，是重要的分解者和生态系统工程师。这些地区的殖民化并非没有潜在的成本；白蚁需要从高度缓冲和潮湿的气候中适应高度变化和干燥的气候。该项目将探索白蚁如何适应这些新环境，并利用西非的自然降水梯度，检验生态生理学方法对物种分布的解释力。该项目将利用白蚁个体和蚁群的数据，研究影响白蚁的气候因素，以及它们对这些因素的适应能力。四个地点横跨降水梯度在加纳将取样：湿和干森林，湿和干稀树草原。白蚁将采用标准抽样方法收集。所选树种的耐热性和干燥性将被确定。还将检查土墩，看看这些结构是否提供任何额外的缓冲服务。将建立基于气候的物种分布模型，并与纯粹的生态生理模型进行比较。该项目将帮助我们利用新的生理数据更好地了解白蚁分布的控制，我们将能够预测物种在人为干扰和气候变化下的分布变化。该项目还将与新资助的英国皇家学会/英国国际发展部资助的非洲土壤动物（SoFIA）项目联系起来。

Most tropical termites evolved in tropical rain forest, yet they are ecologically dominant in tropical grassy biomes where they are vital decomposers and ecosystem engineers. The colonisation of these areas is not without potential costs; termites need to adjust to a highly variable, drier climate, from one that is highly buffered and wet. This project will explore how termites have adapted to these new environments and examine the explanatory power of an ecophysiological approach to species distributions, using a natural precipitation gradient across west Africa. The project will examine climatic factors affecting termites, and their adaptations to them, using data from individual termites and colonies. Four sites across a precipitation gradient in Ghana will be sampled: wet & dry forest, wet & dry savanna. Termites will be collected using standard sampling methods. The thermal and desiccation tolerances of selected species will be determined. Mounds will also be examined to see if these structures provide any additional buffering services. Species distribution models based on climate will be developed and compared against a pure eco-physiological model. This project will help us understand better the controls to termite distributions using novel physiological data and we will be able to predict how species may shift in their distribution under human-disturbance and climate change. The project will also connect with the newly funded Royal Society /DFiD funded Soil Fauna in Africa (SoFIA) programme.