Korb, J and Linsenmair, KE (2000) Thermoregulation of termite mounds: what role does ambient temperature and metabolism of the colony play? INSECTES SOCIAUX, 47 (4). pp. 357-363. ISSN 0020-1812, 1420-9098
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Termites are well known for their ability to regulate the environment of their nest such as temperature and humidity. The influence of fluctuating ambient temperature and mound characteristics on mean nest temperature and daily fluctuation of nest temperature was analysed quantitatively in the fungus-cultivating, mound-building termite Macrotermes bellicosus (Macrotermitinae) in the savanna of the Comoe National Park (Cote d'Ivoire). Additionally, the nest temperatures of inhabited and uninhabited mounds were compared to analyse the contribution of ambient temperature to nest temperature in relation to metabolic heat production of the termites and their fungi. Mound structure alone resulted in a relatively constant nest temperature. Abiotic heat production via solar radiation alone yielded nest temperatures that corresponded to mean ambient temperatures. However, only the production of metabolic heat by the termites and the fungi increased these temperatures to the actual nest temperature. Therefore, and due to the high heat capacities of the mounds, large colonies (mound height above 2.0 m) had higher nest temperatures than smaller ones. Only large colonies attain constant nest temperatures of 30 degreesC that are largely independent from ambient temperatures and optimal for the growth and development of the termites and their fungi.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | MACROTERMES-BELLICOSUS ISOPTERA; ARCHITECTURE; HABITATS; fungus; Macrotermes bellicosus; Macrotermitinae; metabolism; mound structure |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 20 May 2021 06:06 |
| Last Modified: | 20 May 2021 08:27 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/42968 |
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