College of Arts and Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
Termites, Vertebrate Herbivores, and the Fruiting Success of
Acacia Drepanolobium
Less obvious, and often overlooked, are soil-dwelling invertebrates that enhance soil nutrients
and alter soil physical properties. Reporting in a recent article that made the cover of Ecology,
Alison Brody and her colleagues, traveled to the Laikipia Plateau of Kenya to study how
subterranean termites interact with vertebrate herbivores and plant-ants in affecting the
reproduction of the whistling thorn Acacia. These Acacias produce in a near-monoculture –
comprising over 90% of the canopy. They harbor one of four species of ants in their swollen
thorns, some of which provide the tree with protection from herbivores. Brody et al. found that
Acacias growing close to termite mounds enjoyed enhanced reproduction over those growing far
from mounds. The positive effects of termites on soil enhancement outweighed both the positive
and negative effects of vertebrate herbivores and mutualist ants. These results demonstrate how
the less-obvious but none-the-less important players can profoundly affect plant fitness.
Brody, AK, TM Palmer, K Fox-Dobbs and DF Doak. 2010. Termites, vertebrate herbivores, and
the fruiting success of Acacia drepanolobium. Ecology 91:399–407
LINK TO PODCAST INTERVIEW: http://www.esa.org/fieldtalk/