Harit A. auteur aut IRD Shanbhag R. auteur aut IRD Chaudhary E. auteur aut IRD Cheik S. auteur aut IRD Jouquet Pascal auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Termites are considered soil engineers and key bioturbators in tropical and subtropical soils. A large number of studies have described the specific properties of the aboveground mounds that termites construct to protect their colonies from environmental hazards. However, there is a paucity of information on properties of soil sheetings; more temporary but often extensive structures are covering over or inserted within substrates on the ground such as leaves and woody materials or components of arboreal runways. Such sheetings are conspicuously produced not only by the Macrotermitinae but also by many other unrelated taxa. Here, we review the available literature and discuss (i) the relationship between rainfall and soil sheeting production and (ii) how termites affect the clay and C contents in soil sheetings. This reveals that sheeting production is highly variable and site specific. We also found that soil sheetings are always enriched in clay, but their impacts on soil C content are variable and related to the C content of the parent soil and to the quality of the substrates consumed by termites. specialized Termites Soil sheeting Soil engineers Bioturbation Carbon and clay AFRIQUE ASIE EUROPE AMERIQUE BURKINA FASO KENYA NAMIBIE SENEGAL INDE VIET NAM MEXIQUE ETATS UNIS MEXIQUE COLOMBIE AUSTRALIE 074 068 53 7 743-749 2017 0178-2762 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070992 10.1007/s00374-017-1228-7 0178-2762 [F B010070992] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070992 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2017/09/010070992.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2017-10-03 2023-07-11 fdi:010070992 fre