Termites and atmospheric gas production [Gnathamitermes perplexus]

Zimmerman et al. reported that termites are a potential source of large quantities of atmospheric methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. The authors do not question their laboratory experiments, but they are cirtical of their extrapolations of gas emission (calculated from food consumption) to a glo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1984-04, Vol.224 (4644), p.84-86
Main Authors: Collins, N.M, Wood, T.G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Agricultural soils
Atmospheric research
Biosphere
Desert soils
Environmental aspects
Forest soils
Insect ecology
Observations
Savanna soils
Savannas
Soil insects
Termites
Termitidae
Tropical soils
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Summary:Zimmerman et al. reported that termites are a potential source of large quantities of atmospheric methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. The authors do not question their laboratory experiments, but they are cirtical of their extrapolations of gas emission (calculated from food consumption) to a global scale. Their appraisal of the available data indicates that gas emission by termites was overestimated by at least one order of magnitude. Gnathamitermes perplexus Banks (Termitinae) should not be used as the sole representative of the very variable family Termitidae, which constitutes two-thirds of all termites.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.224.4644.84