Density-body mass relationships: Inconsistent intercontinental patterns among termite feeding-groups
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Dahlsjö, Cecilia A.L.; Parr, Catherine L; Malhi, Yadvinder; Meir, Patrick; Rahman, Homathevi; Eggleton, Paul
Description
Allometric relationships are useful for estimating and understanding resource distribution in assemblages with species of different masses. Damuth's law states that body mass scales with population density as M-0.75, where M is body mass and-0.75 is the slope. In this study we used Damuth's law (M-0.75) as a null hypothesis to examine the relationship between body mass and population density for termite feeding-groups in three different countries and regions (Cameroon, West Africa; Peru South...[Show more]
dc.contributor.author | Dahlsjö, Cecilia A.L. | |
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dc.contributor.author | Parr, Catherine L | |
dc.contributor.author | Malhi, Yadvinder | |
dc.contributor.author | Meir, Patrick | |
dc.contributor.author | Rahman, Homathevi | |
dc.contributor.author | Eggleton, Paul | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-12-10T23:13:18Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1146-609X | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/64364 | |
dc.description.abstract | Allometric relationships are useful for estimating and understanding resource distribution in assemblages with species of different masses. Damuth's law states that body mass scales with population density as M-0.75, where M is body mass and-0.75 is the slope. In this study we used Damuth's law (M-0.75) as a null hypothesis to examine the relationship between body mass and population density for termite feeding-groups in three different countries and regions (Cameroon, West Africa; Peru South America; and Malaysia SE Asia). We found that none of the feeding-groups had a relationship where M-0.75 while the data suggested that population density-body mass relationships for true soil-feeding termites in Cameroon (M2.7) and wood-feeding termites in Peru (M1.5) were significantly different from the expected values given by Damuth's law. The dominance of large-bodied true soil-feeding termites in Cameroon and the absence of fungus-growing termites from Peru suggest that these allometric patterns are due to heterogeneities in termite biogeographical evolution. Additionally, as these feeding-groups have higher population density than expected by their body masses it may be suggested that they also have a higher energy throughput than expected. The results presented here may be used to gain further understanding of resource distribution among termite feeding-groups across regions and an insight into the importance of evolutionary history and biogeography on allometric patterns. Further understanding of population density-body mass relationships in termite feeding-groups may also improve understanding of the role these feeding-groups play in ecosystem processes in different regions. | |
dc.publisher | Elsevier | |
dc.source | Acta Oecologica | |
dc.title | Density-body mass relationships: Inconsistent intercontinental patterns among termite feeding-groups | |
dc.type | Journal article | |
local.description.notes | Imported from ARIES | |
local.identifier.citationvolume | 63 | |
dc.date.issued | 2015 | |
local.identifier.absfor | 060705 - Plant Physiology | |
local.identifier.ariespublication | a383154xPUB924 | |
local.type.status | Published Version | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Dahlsjö, Cecilia A.L., University of Oxford | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Parr, Catherine L, University of Liverpool | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Malhi, Yadvinder, University of Oxford | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Meir, Patrick, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, ANU | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Rahman, Homathevi, University Malaysia Sabah | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Eggleton, Paul, The Natural History Museum | |
local.description.embargo | 2037-12-31 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage | 16 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage | 21 | |
local.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.actao.2015.01.003 | |
local.identifier.absseo | 970106 - Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | |
dc.date.updated | 2015-12-10T09:38:24Z | |
local.identifier.scopusID | 2-s2.0-84921883070 | |
Collections | ANU Research Publications |
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