Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01556.x
Titel (primär) Differentiation between populations of a termite in eastern Africa: implications for biogeography
Autor Wilfert, L.; Kaib, M.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Brandl, R.
Quelle Journal of Biogeography
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
Department BZF
Band/Volume 33
Heft 11
Seite von 1993
Seite bis 2000
Sprache englisch
Keywords AFLP; arid corridor; biogeography; coastal forests; Guineo-Congolian forests; Isoptera; Kenya; morphometry; Schedorhinotermes lamanianus
Abstract

Aim  African forests are divided by an arid corridor which runs from the Horn of Africa to the Namib Desert. Several forest species occur in the forests of eastern Africa as well as in the Guineo-Congolian forest block. We evaluate the possibility that such species may have crossed the arid corridor along a route through the Kenyan Highlands and down the eastern drainages during climatologically favourable periods in the past.

Locations  Eastern Africa, Ivory Coast.

Methods  We used the termite species Schedorhinotermes lamanianus (Sjöstedt). This species occurs in lowland forests and woodland throughout Africa south of the Sahara. We sampled termites from 12 populations. We evaluated the differentiation between populations using amplified fragment length polymorphisms as well as morphometrical measurements.

Results  Genetic and morphometrical analysis demonstrated substantial differentiation between populations west and east of the arid corridor in Kenya. To the east of this corridor we found an increase of morphological distance with geographical distance. Schedorhinotermes lamanianus occurs not only along the coast but also at isolated locations (e.g. ground-water forests in foothills) within the arid hinterland.

Main conclusions  We interpret these populations as remnants of a wider distribution during wet climatic periods. At these times, populations of S. lamanianus were apparently able to establish along extensive gallery forests protruding into the arid belt of the Kenyan hinterland. There have been no connections between populations of this species east and west of the arid corridor across the Kenyan Highlands.

dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=3130
Wilfert, L., Kaib, M., Durka, W., Brandl, R. (2006):
Differentiation between populations of a termite in eastern Africa: implications for biogeography
J. Biogeogr. 33 (11), 1993 - 2000 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01556.x