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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Yit Arn TehORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2019.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Termites perform key ecological functions in tropical ecosystems, are strongly affected by variation in rainfall, and respond negatively to habitat disturbance. However, it is not known how the projected increase in frequency and severity of droughts in tropical rainforests will alter termite communities and the maintenance of ecosystem processes. Using a large-scale termite suppression experiment, we found that termite activity and abundance increased during drought in a Bornean forest. This increase resulted in accelerated litter decomposition, elevated soil moisture, greater soil nutrient heterogeneity, and higher seedling survival rates during the extreme El Niño drought of 2015–2016. Our work shows how an invertebrate group enhances ecosystem resistance to drought, providing evidence that the dual stressors of climate change and anthropogenic shifts in biotic communities will have various negative consequences for the maintenance of rainforest ecosystems.
Author(s): Ashton LA, Griffiths HM, Parr CL, Evans TA, Didham RK, Hasan F, Teh YA, Tin HS, Vairappan CS, Eggleton P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Science
Year: 2019
Volume: 363
Issue: 6423
Pages: 174-177
Print publication date: 11/01/2019
Acceptance date: 06/12/2018
Date deposited: 13/06/2019
ISSN (print): 0036-8075
ISSN (electronic): 1095-9203
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
URL: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau9565
DOI: 10.1126/science.aau9565
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