Termite Range and Purposeful Traits are Quantitatively Modelled for First Time

As ecosystem engineers, termites perform a number of ecosystem services. Although termites represent an ideal study system to study broad-based diversity patterns, their broad-based biogeographical patterns have yet to be fully studied.

To examine patterns of termite taxonomic richness and functional biogeography, researchers at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences compiled a dataset of termite species and their functional traits along with environmental data.

Researchers studied the global distribution of termite diversity, as well as morphological characteristics and diversity across China. They also identified which environmental factors explain termite taxonomic and functional biogeography at both global and intra-Chinese scales, and examined how these compare between scales.

Researchers mapped global patterns of termite abundance. The analyzes showed increasing termite species richness with decreasing latitude both globally and within China. Termite biodiversity peaked in tropical regions with over 100 species.

They also discovered apparent latitude trends in the mean community value of termite morphological traits on average, with body size and leg length decreasing with increasing latitude. On average, termite species got larger towards the tropics.

In addition, their data showed that temperature, normalized difference vegetation index, and water variables were the most important factors driving variation in termite abundance. Soil and temperature were the main factors controlling variation in the geographic distribution of termite functional traits.

“This is the first study to quantitatively model termite diversity and functional traits on a large scale. And it provides a useful basis for further ecological analysis,” said XTBG’s YANG Xiaodong.

This study, published in iScience, was supported in part by the National Science Foundation of China.

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