Termites are globally dominant and functionally important soil organisms. While their role in ecosystems is being increasingly recognised and understood, methods that adequately sample termite communities across habitats can be challenging and have not advanced at the same pace as studies of termite ecology. Moreover, the appropriateness of sampling methods varies with habitat and biogeographic region due to differences in termite communities. Focusing largely on tropical systems where the majority of termites occur, we review currently available termite sampling methods and provide recommendations for sampling across different biomes and biogeographic regions. Active searching transects are most effective in rainforest habitats, whereas reduced transects, baiting and mound surveys are more appropriate in grassy systems and seasonally dry forests. Baiting is recommended for deserts. Recent advances in termite sampling, such as the use of remote sensing and DNA metabarcoding, and outstanding challenges, such as sampling episodic grass-feeding termites, are also discussed. Improved use of standardised termite sampling methods, as we recommend, should lead to increased knowledge of the patterns and drivers of termite diversity, which will, in turn, facilitate the quantification of the influence termites have on ecosystems and lead to new insights into the functioning of tropical systems.

中文翻译：

---

白蚁采样方法的全球回顾

白蚁是全球主要且功能重要的土壤生物。虽然它们在生态系统中的作用越来越得到认可和理解，但对跨栖息地的白蚁群落进行充分采样的方法可能具有挑战性，并且没有与白蚁生态学研究同步发展。此外，由于白蚁群落的差异，采样方法的适当性因栖息地和生物地理区域而异。我们主要关注大多数白蚁发生的热带系统，审查目前可用的白蚁采样方法，并为不同生物群落和生物地理区域的采样提供建议。主动搜索样带在热带雨林栖息地最有效，而减少样带、诱饵和土丘调查更适合于草地系统和季节性干燥的森林。建议在沙漠中使用诱饵。还讨论了白蚁采样的最新进展，例如遥感和 DNA 元条形码的使用，以及突出的挑战，例如对偶发性食草白蚁进行采样。正如我们所建议的那样，改进标准化白蚁采样方法的使用应该会增加对白蚁多样性模式和驱动因素的了解，这反过来将有助于量化白蚁对生态系统的影响，并导致对白蚁功能的新见解热带系统。