『Abstract
Soil-feeding termites are abundant and play important roles in
the biogeochemical processes in tropical soils. Previous studies
indicated that they preferentially utilize the peptidic components
of soil organic matter as a nutrient resource. Here, we determined
the corresponding mineralization fluxes and elucidated other N
transformation processes that occur during soil gut passage using
15N tracer techniques. Termite-based rates of N mineralization
by Cubitermes umbratus and Cubitermes ugandensis
in soil microcosms amended with 15NH4+
were 6.6 and 9.2 nmol N day-1 (g fresh wt)-1,
which means that the soil peptides fuel about 20 and 40% of the
respiratory activity of these insects. Considering the areal biomass
of soil-feeding termites in humid savannahs, soil-feeding termites
should mineralize about 3% of the total N in their food soil per
year. In addition to producing ammonia from ingested 15NO3- at approximately 10%of the mineralization
rate, C. umbratus also formed N2 at
similar rates. The formation of labelled N2
in microcosms amended with 15NH4+
seems to be at least partially due to nitrification activity in
the soil; evidence for the formation of nitrate in the posterior
hindgut remains inconclusive. However, the so far unexplained
increase of 15N abundance in the ammonia pools of the
posterior hindgut compartments manifests additional hitherto unknown
metabolic processes in this gut region. Collectively, our results
not only reinforce the concept of nitrogenous soil components
as an important dietary resource for soil-feeding termites, but
also allow us to predict that n mineralization and nitrate ammonification
activities in the termite gut should positively affect the dynamics
of N in tropical soil.
Keywords: Mineralization; Nitrification; Denitrification; Nitrate
ammonification; Termites; Soil macrofauna; 15N tracer』
Introduction
Materials and methods
Termites
Soil analysis
Concentrations of ammonia and nitrate in the intestinal tract
Microcosm experiments
Determination of isotope ratios by GC-IRMS
Calculations of N transformation rates
Results
Dynamics of inorganic nitrogen species in soil, gut, and
nest material
Nitrogen mineralization rates
Nitrification and denitrification
Nitrate ammonification activities
Localization of labelled ammonia in the gut
Discussion
Mineralization of soil organic nitrogen
Localization of N mineralization in the gut
Localization of nitrification activities
Fate of nitrate during soil gut passage
Ecological implications: effects of termites on soil N transformations
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References