The presence of colonies of C. silvestrii is common, both on the rock surface and at islands of vegetation. At Morro da Grota1 station, 92,0 % of the termite nests on rocky outcrops and at island of vegetation are associated with this bromeliad. These nests are associated with D. maritima, in 31,2 % of the islands where this bromeliad occurs. At these island communities, the comparison between the substrata where D. maritima occurs, the litolic Waldemar & Irgang: Mutualismo facultativo entre Dyckia maritima e o cupim Cortaritermes silvestrii humic soil existing under the mantle of the moss Campylopus spp. and the substratum produced by termites indicates that this possesses higher levels of the nutrients P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn and Mn, CEC and higher fine particles content, mainly silt. The establishment of D. maritima rosettes on great termite nests increase their value of relative coverage at islands inside areas between 2,7 to 8,0 m². This fact is attributed to the improvement physical-chemistry of the substratum and the increase of surface and volume to be colonized for the Bromeliad. It provides for greater competitiveness at this species in relation to other vegetal species. The features presented for the interaction between this termite and D. maritima, for the first time described in literature, lead to the classification of this ecological relationship as facultative mutualism. The set of observations constitute a temporal model of development of this mutualism at island's vegetation, whose phases, initial and advanced are described.
Mutualism; Dyckia maritima; Bromeliaceae; Cortaritermes silvestrii; Nasutitermitinae
