Subterranean termite (Isoptera: Reticulitermes) community dynamics along a gradient of urbanization: from undeveloped agriculture and forested landscapes to 20 year old subdivisions

Missouri is home to four species of subterranean termites (Isoptera: Reticulitermes).  The distributions of these species overlap; however, there are differences in the frequency of occurrence among habitat type.  Reticulitermes hageni (Banks) occurs more frequently in forested landscapes than other subterranean termite species.  Reticulitermes flavipes Kollar, on the other hand, occurs more frequently in urban landscapes.  Thus, it appears that different closely related species may favor one landscape type over another.  Moreover, subterranean termite communities appear to shift when landscapes are converted from undeveloped to urban.  It is not known, however, when Reticulitermes community dynamics shift in response to urbanization processes, or how termite populations invade subdivisions in an altered urban landscape.  The purpose this research is to examine how landscape factors are associated with shifts in Reticulitermes communities as landscapes are converted from undeveloped to urban.  Subterranean termites were collected from 25 areas in Columbia, Missouri that were classified along a gradient of urbanization to include 1) undeveloped landscapes; 2) intermediately developed landscapes; 3) 10 y.o. subdivisions; and 4) 20 y.o. subdivisions.  Subterranean termite community dynamics in these landscapes were assessed by identifying species using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP).   The interaction between landscape features and community dynamics was assessed spatially using GIS software.