By using high tech scanner , researchers have mapped the location of thousands of termite mounds in Africa . Their new - released map of these louse civilizations give us clues about the future tense of weather on the savannas .
researcher from the Carnegie Institution ’s Department of Global Ecology fly over 192 straight miles of Kruger National Park in South Africa , and used a scanning method calledLIDARto map 40,000 termite mounds and the surrounding flora in three dimensions , and the chemistry of the soil beneath .
It turns out the insects only construct their house under very specific land condition . Like Goldilocks , they want soil that ’s not too dry , and not too wet . fundamentally they seek out regions where the land is well drained , at elevations above what ’s known as a seepline ( the yellow line of work in the image below ) .
Seeplines fall out where water flows below ground through arenaceous soil , then backs up at field high in Lucius Clay . Above the line of descent , you get trees and termite ; below it , grassland . However , seasonal fluctuations in foliage make the division foxy to blot , so static termite mounds are a great index number of where the seepline is , and of the overall land conditions . jumper lead writer Shaun Levick enounce :
“ We establish that precipitation , along with superlative , hydrological , and soil condition define whether the sphere will be dominated by grasses or woody vegetation and the sizing and concentration of termite hummock . ”
By translate the links between territory , the termite pitcher , rainfall , and flora , it becomes possible to project how climate alteration will affect the savanna . Co - source Greg Asner says :
“ The predictions are that many regions of the savannah will become drier , which suggests more woody species will encroach on today ’s grasslands . These change will reckon on complex but predictable hydrological appendage along hill slopes , which will correspond to pattern changes in the telltale termite mound we see today from the melody . ”
So the apparent movement of termite hill is a aloof other warning arrangement of the encroaching dryness of the savannas .
Research published inNature Communications
BiologyClimate changeGeologyInsects
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