02746nas a2200229   4500008004100000245009900041210006900140300001200209490000700221520194100228653002602169653001202195653002602207653001302233653002902246653002002275653002502295653003102320100001502351700001602366856013402382       2004                        eng d00aCharacterizing termite assemblages in fragmented forests: A test case in the Argentinian Chaco0 aCharacterizing termite assemblages in fragmented forests A test   a637-6460 v293 aTermites are major decomposers in tropical ecosystems. To characterize their assemblages in terms of taxonomical and functional composition, Jones and Eggleton (2000, Journal of Applied Ecology 37, 191–203) recently proposed a standardized sampling protocol based on belt transects of 100 m  2 m. We evaluated the represent- ativeness of samples obtained by this protocol, and its suitability to calculate diversity statistics, by replicating it in an area of naturally fragmented subtropical forest. We sampled six 100 m transects in separate small forest islets, and one transect extended to 500 m in a large islet, recording presence/absence data (occurrences) of termite species in successive quadrats of 5 m  2 m. In the large islet, strips of 100 m within the 500 m transect produced extremely variable species richness figures. This variability was primarily due to heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of soil- dwelling termites. Combining non-contiguous quadrats allowed us to span a broader diversity of microhabitats for an equal effort, providing less variable results and faster species accumulation. Individual transects of 100 m in small forest islets yielded too few samples to allow reliable estimations of total species richness, although these transects when pooled constituted a useful data set for comparison with other sites. In the focal habitat, a single 100 m transect appeared therefore inadequate to allow a reliable characterization of the termite assemblage, even at the level of a single forest islet. To improve the rate of species accumulation and to obtain diversity statistics allowing intersite comparisons, we suggest the use of smaller, non-contiguous quadrats, and that sampling be continued until stable diversity estimates are obtained. In the habitat studied, such an alternative protocol could be adequately combined with a standardized protocol for collecting ground-dwelling ants10acommunity composition10ageneity10ahabitat fragmentation10aisoptera10asampling standardization10aspatial hetero-10aspecies accumulation10aspecies richness estimates1 aRoisin, Y.1 aLeponce, M.  uhttps://insectafgseag.myspecies.info/en/content/characterizing-termite-assemblages-fragmented-forests-test-case-argentinian-chaco