Fungus-growing termites have long been considered as ecosystem engineers for the modifications they make to the soil, through their ability to concentrate nutrients and create patches of fertile land. However, few studies have highlighted the degree to which, in building their mounds, they are able to modify the grain-size distributions of the sediments and soils in their surroundings. Therefore, the aim of this study is to document the potential impact of fungus-growing termites on sediment sorting of their environment. The assessment is based on comparisons between two different mounds and their associated control soils developed in contrasting grain-size settings, one on sand and the other on fine material (diatomite). The sedimentary modifications carried out by termites between these two parent materials and associated constructed mounds are addressed using techniques mostly based on grain-size distributions (performed with End-Member Mixing Analyses) and soil micromorphology. In order to conduct this investigation, two fungus-growing termites’ mounds were selected in the Chobe Enclave District, northern Botswana. The key questions of this study center on the capacity of fungus-growing termites to (i) adapt to any kind of parent material to build their mounds, and (ii) enrich or deplete this parent soil to meet their texture requirements in terms of mound stability and other mechanical properties to insure the success of the colony. This study demonstrated that fungus-growing termites assemble the mandatory texture required for the functions and properties of their mounds, whatever a given parent material, by selecting, transporting, and mixing the various grain sizes. To conclude, the sorting by fungus-growing termites must be considered when reconstructing paleoenvironment based on particle-size distributions.

长期以来，真菌生长的白蚁一直被认为是生态系统工程师，因为它们能够通过集中养分和创造肥沃土地的能力对土壤进行改造。然而，很少有研究强调在建造土丘时，他们能够在多大程度上改变周围沉积物和土壤的粒度分布。因此，本研究的目的是记录真菌生长的白蚁对其环境沉积物分类的潜在影响。评估基于两个不同的土丘及其在对比粒度环境中开发的相关控制土壤之间的比较，一个在沙子上，另一个在细粒材料（硅藻土）上。白蚁在这两种母体材料和相关建造的土墩之间进行的沉积改造主要使用基于粒度分布（使用端部混合分析进行）和土壤微形态学的技术来解决。为了进行这项调查，在博茨瓦纳北部的乔贝飞地区选择了两个生长真菌的白蚁丘。本研究的关键问题集中在真菌生长的白蚁 (i) 适应任何类型的母体材料来建造它们的土丘，以及 (ii) 丰富或耗尽这种母土以满足它们在土丘方面的质地要求的能力稳定性和其他机械性能，以确保菌落的成功。这项研究表明，真菌生长的白蚁通过选择、运输和混合不同的颗粒大小，组装了其土墩功能和特性所需的强制性纹理，无论母体是什么。总而言之，在基于粒度分布重建古环境时，必须考虑真菌生长的白蚁的分类。