Termite Mound Oases Help Combat Climate Change

Most people consider termites to be unwanted and useless pests, but a new study finds that these insects help to combat the effects of climate change, to the point that they can even stop the spread of deserts.

Termite mounds often serve as oases of plant life in otherwise dry and desolate regions, according to the study, which is published in the latest issue of the journal Science. This may provide no comfort to homeowners with wood-chomping termites under their houses, but termites turn out to be critical to ecosystems, since the mound oases help to sustain both big and small wildlife.

“I like to think of termites as linchpins of the ecosystem in more than one way,” co-author Robert Pringle, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, said in a press release. “They increase the productivity of the system, but they also make it more stable, more resilient.”

The visuals of this are dramatic, showing how lush, green grass often grows atop termite mounds, while the surrounding land remains dry and desolate. Depending on the number of mounds, this can look like green polka dots covering a landscape when it is photographed from above.

Pringle, lead author Juan Bonachela and their colleagues focused their research on fungus-growing termites of the genus Odontotermes, but they say that their findings could apply to all types of termites that increase resource availability on and/or around their nests.

For the study, the researchers adjusted some mathematical models to account for the effects of termite mounds on desert and semi-arid landscapes in Africa, South America and Asia. Bonachela and his team now suspect that termites are far more beneficial than anyone had ever previously believed.

They explained that termite mounds store nutrients and moisture, and–via internal tunnels–allow water to better penetrate soil. As a result, vegetation flourishes on and near termite mounds in ecosystems that are otherwise highly vulnerable to “desertification,” meaning the environment’s collapse into desert.

Moisture presence overall does not change, but the tiny termites still make a big difference.

“The rain is the same everywhere, but because termites allow water to penetrate the soil better, the plants grow on or near the mounds as if there were more rain,” co-author Corina Tarnita explained.

Read more at Discovery News