Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Typically viewed as nothing more than wood-eating pests that need to be exterminated, termites can actually help prevent desertification in semi-arid drylands and other ecosystems, researchers from Princeton University reported Friday in the journal Science.
In their study, the authors found that the insect’s large dirt mounds can halt the spread of deserts into semi-arid ecosystems and agricultural lands, suggesting that termites could help prevent the impact of climate change in those regions and change the way that experts the potential effects of global warming on different ecosystems all over the world.
According to UPI reports, the Princeton researchers found that the structured patterns of plant life growth that was encouraged by termite mounds was similar to the design of vegetation that had been organized by diminishing rain fall totals. Both types of patterns feature round, polka-dot style circles of greenery that are backed by dry soil, according to the news agency.
Furthermore, the analysis revealed that both mechanisms could be active at the same time in these patterns. While small circles of organized plant life in otherwise dry areas could indicate that the ecosystem is at risk of desertification within the next few years, it could also indicate that termite mounds have helped fight off the drying effects associated with global warming.
Tiny critters, big impact
Termite mounds store nutrients and moisture, and their internal tunnels can help water better penetrate the soil in the parched savannas and grasslands of Africa, South America, and Asia, the study authors explained. This allows vegetation to grow on or around the mounts in parts of the world that would otherwise be in danger of collapsing into desert-like conditions.
“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,” corresponding author Corina Tarnita, a Princeton assistant professor in ecology and evolutionary biology, explained.
“The vegetation on and around termite mounds persists longer and declines slower,” she added. “Even when you get to such harsh conditions where vegetation disappears from the mounds, re-vegetation is still easier. As long as the mounds are there the ecosystem has a better chance to recover.”
Their research revealed that termite mounds can help preserve seeds and plant life, which in turn helps surrounding areas rebound faster once rainfall resumes. The findings indicate that recently proposed early-warning signs for the desertification of arid ecosystems could be too simple to adequately explain the complex system at work, added Jef Huisman, an aquatic microbiology professor and theoretical ecologist at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Huisman, who was familiar with the Princeton study but was not directly involved in it, added that, “the coexistence of multiple patterns at these scales makes ecosystems more robust and less prone to collapse, and that is the significance of this study. In that sense, we have to adjust our models for drylands because these ecosystems are much more resistant to desertification than we previously believed.”
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