Jacklyn Peter M
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
Division of Wildlife and Ecology, C.S.I.R.O., P.M.B. 44, 0821, Winnellie, Northern Territory, Australia.
Oecologia. 1992 Sep;91(3):385-395. doi: 10.1007/BF00317628.
The termites Amitermes meridionalis and A. laurensis construct remarkable meridional or "magnetic" mounds in northern Australia. These mounds vary geographically in mean orientation in a manner that suggests such variation is an adaptive response to local environmental conditions. Theoretical modelling of solar irradiance and mound rotation experiments show that maintenance of an eastern face temperature plateau during the dry season is the most likely physical basis for the mound orientation response. Subsequent heat transfer analysis shows that habitat wind speed and shading conditions also affect face temperature gradients such as the rate of eastern face temperature change. It is then demonstrated that the geographic variation in mean mound orientation follows the geographic variation in long-term wind speed and shading conditions across northern Australia such that an eastern face temperature plateau is maintained in all locations.
在澳大利亚北部，白蚁Amitermes meridionalis和A. laurensis建造出了引人注目的南北走向或“磁性”蚁丘。这些蚁丘的平均朝向在地理上存在差异，这种差异表明这种变化是对当地环境条件的一种适应性反应。太阳辐照度的理论建模和蚁丘旋转实验表明，在旱季维持东面温度稳定是蚁丘朝向反应最可能的物理基础。随后的传热分析表明，栖息地风速和遮荫条件也会影响表面温度梯度，比如东面温度变化的速率。研究随后证明，蚁丘平均朝向的地理差异与澳大利亚北部长期风速和遮荫条件的地理差异相符，从而在所有地点都能维持东面温度稳定。
