Assessing the Australian Termite Diversity Anomaly: How Habitat and Rainfall Affect Termite Assemblages

Termites are important ecosystem engineers in tropical habitats, with different feeding groups able to decompose wood, grass, litter, and soil organic matter. In most regions, termite abundance species diversity assumed increase rainfall, highest levels found rainforests. However, the Australian tropics, this pattern is thought be reversed, lower richness rainforest than drier habitats. The potential mechanisms underlying remain unclear. We compared assemblages (abundance, activity, diversity, group composition) across five sites along a precipitation gradient (ranging from ?800 4,000 mm annual rainfall), spanning dry wet savanna sclerophyll, lowland upland rainforests North Queensland. Moving we observed dramatic decreases both mounds dead wood occupancy, greater activity at (low precipitation) or sclerophyll (high precipitation). also turnover that were close together, but Termite sites, 13 wood-, litter-, grass-, dung-, soil-feeding groups, while only encountered sites—all feeders. These results suggest anomaly may partly driven by how specific colonized habitats Australia. Consequently, termites less processes, such as carbon nutrient cycling during decomposition, other