Earthen mounds (heuweltjies) of South Africa and their termite occupants: applicability of concepts of the extended phenotype, ecosystem engineering and niche construction.

Abstract excerpt

Heuweltjies are earthen mounds found throughout the Succulent Karoo of South Africa and are inhabited by the termite Microhodotermes viator. Many have assumed that heuweltjies are constructed by the occupying termites. Consequently, heuweltjies have been used as an example of several important concepts in ecology and evolution: the extended phenotype, ecosystem engineering and niche construction. However, recent...

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