Ecological role of termites (Insecta, Isoptera) in tree trunks in central Amazonian rain forests

Abstract

During an experimental silvicultural logging operation in a rain forest area in central Amazonia, 110 trees were cut in an area of about 3 ha. Of these, 37.7±9.9% presented large internal cavities along the central axis of their trunks. Twenty-three trees were infested with termites (21.2±3.5% of the logged and 57.4±9.8% of the hollow trees). Eighteen termite species of 15 genera (families: Termitidae and Rhinotermitidae) were found in the rotten cores; the most common species were Coptotermes testaceus and an unidentified species of this genus ( Coptotermes sp. A). Both species together occupied 69.3±18.1% of the trees containing termites. Some otherwise rarely registered termite species ( Glossotermes oculatus, Labiotermes leptothrix, Inquilinitermes microcerus) also were found in the rotten cores ( I. microcerus for the first time in central Amazonia). We conclude that apparently healthy, live trees in Amazonian rain forests commonly have rotten cores that contain termites, and that termites of the genus Coptotermes are the main occupants of this spatial niche. Therefore, when termite communities are sampled, special attention should be given to the termite assemblages in the central cavities of tree trunks.