Mound building termites contribute to savanna vegetation heterogeneity

Plant Ecology

Volumn 202, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 31-40

  Moe, Stein R ^a   Mobæk, Ragnhild ^a   Narmo, Anne Kjersti ^a  

^a NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES   (Norway)

Author keywords

Biodiversity; Macrotermes herus; Species richness and productivity; Termitaria; Termitidae; Uganda

Indexed keywords

COMMUNITY COMPOSITION; DIVERSITY INDEX; HERB; HETEROGENEITY; SAVANNA; SPECIES EVENNESS; TERMITE; VEGETATION DYNAMICS;

AFRICA; EAST AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; UGANDA;

ACACIA; CYPERACEAE; EUPHORBIA; EUPHORBIA CANDELABRUM; GREWIA; ISOPTERA; MACROTERMES; POACEAE; TERMITARIA; TERMITIDAE; UNGULATA;

EID: 63949084881     PISSN: 13850237     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11258-009-9575-6     Document Type: Article

References (69)

1. Abe T (1980) Studies on the distribution and ecological role of termites in a lowland rain forest of West Malaysia. 4. The role of termites in the process of wood decomposition in the Pasho Forest Reserve. Rev d'Ecol et de Biol du Sol 17:23-40
2. JM Anderson TG Wood 1984 Mound composition and soil modification by two soil-feeding termites (Termitinae, Termitidae) in a riparian Nigerian forest Pedobiologia 26 77 82
3. MA Arshad 1982 Influence of the termite Macrotermes michaelseni (Sjöst) on soil fertility and vegetation in a semi-arid savannah ecosystem Agro-Ecosyst 8 47 58
4. DO Asawalam VE Osodeke OJ Kamalu IK Ugwa 1999 Effects of termites on the physical and chemical properties of the acid sandy soils of Southern Nigeria Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 30 1691 1696
5. Bakuneeta CM (1989) The importance of Macrotermes herus (Sjostedt) to the ecosystems in Queen Elizabeth and Lake Mburo National Parks in Uganda. MSc Thesis, Makerere University, Uganda
6. Bell RHV (1982) The effect of soil nutrient availability on community structure in African ecosystems. In: Huntley BJ, Walker BH (eds) Ecology of tropical savannas. Springer, Berlin, pp 193-216
7. Bloesch U (2002) The dynamics of thicket clumps in the Kagera savanna landscape, East Africa. PhD thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
8. U Bloesch 2008 Thicket clumps: a characteristic feature of the Kagera savanna landscape, East Africa J Veg Sci 19 31 44
9. JP Bryant F Stuart Chapin DR Klein 1983 Carbon/nutrient balance of boreal plants in relation to vertebrate herbivory Oikos 40 357 368
10. TW Button MA Arshad LL Tieszen 1983 Stable isotope analysis of termite food habits in East African grasslands Oecologia 59 1 6
11. WK Cornwell PJ Grubb 2003 Regional and local patterns in plant species richness with respect to resource availability Oikos 100 417 428
12. MJ Crawley AE Johnston J Silvertown M Dodd C de Mazancourt MS Heard DF Henman GR Edwards 2005 Determinants of species richness in the park grass experiment Am Nat 165 179 192
13. JM Dangerfield TS McCarthy WN Ellery 1998 The mound-building termite Macrotermes michaelseni as an ecosystem engineer J Trop Ecol 14 507 520
14. SE Donovan P Eggleton WE Dubbin M Batchelder L Dibog 2001 The effect of a soil-feeding termite, Cubitermes fungifaber (Isoptera: Termitidae) on soil properties: termites may be an important source of soil microhabitat heterogeneity in tropical forests Pedobiologia 45 1 11
15. P Eggleton DE Bignell WA Sands NA Mawdsley JH Lawton TG Wood NC Bignell 1996 The diversity, abundance and biomass of termites under differing levels of disturbance in the Mbalmayo Forest Reserve, southern Cameroon Phil Trans Royal Soc Lond 351 51 68
16. DJ Eldridge 1994 Nests of ants and termites influence infiltration in a semi-arid woodland Pedobiologia 38 481 492
17. P Ferrar 1982 Termites of a South African savanna IV. Subterranean populations, mass determinations and biomass estimations Oecologia 52 147 151
18. Frost PGH (1996) The ecology of miombo woodlands. In: Campbell BM (ed) The miombo transition: woodland and welfare in Africa. Centre for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia, pp 11-57
19. Gillon D (1983) The fire problem in tropical savannas. In: Bourlière F (ed) Tropical savannas. Ecosystems of the world 13. Elsevier, New York, pp 617-641
20. KL Gross GG Mittelbach HL Reynolds 2005 Grassland invasiblity and diversity: responses to nutrients, seed input, and disturbance Ecology 86 476 486
21. Gurevitch J, Scheiner SM, Fox GA (2002) The ecology of plants. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA
22. Haines RW, Lye KA (1983) The sedges and rushes of East Africa. The East Africa Natural History Society, Nairobi, Kenya
23. PR Hesse 1955 A chemical and physical study of the soils of termite mounds in East Africa J Ecol 43 449 461
24. SI Higgins CM Shackleton ER Robinson 1999 Changes in woody community structure and composition under contrasting landuse systems in a semi-arid savanna, South Africa J Biogeogr 26 619 627
25. Hoag A, Clements A, Monday G (1991) Lake Mburo National Park Habitat Project. A study of the vegetation composition and animal use of the major terrestrial habitats in the park. USAID, USA
26. Jaccard P (1928) Die statistisch-floristische Methode als Grundlage der Pflanzensoziologie. In: Abderhalden (ed) Handbuch biologischer Arbeitsmethoden, vol 11, pp 165-202
27. Jones JA (1992) Soil formation and nutrient dynamics at the woodland-savanna boundary in East Africa. In: Furley PA, Proctor J, Ratter JA (eds) Nature and dynamics of forest-savanna boundaries. Chapman & Hall, London, UK, pp 185-212
28. Jones MJ, Wild A (1975) Soils of the west African savanna. Commonwealth Africultural Bureax (CAB) Technical Communication, vol 55. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau, Harpenden, pp 1-246
29. CG Jones JH Lawton M Shachak 1994 Organisms as ecosystem engineers Oikos 69 373 386
30. Katende AB, Birnie A, Tengnä B (1995) Useful trees and shrubs for Uganda. Regional Soil Conservation Unit (RSCU/SIDA), Nairobi, Kenya
31. RS Knight AG Rebelo WR Siegfried 1989 Plant assemblages on Mima-like earth mounds in the Clanwille district, South Africa S Afr J Bot 55 465 472
32. S Konatè X Le Roux D Tessier M Lepage 1999 Influence of large termitaria on soil characteristics, soil water regime, and tree leaf shedding pattern in a West African savanna Plant Soil 206 47 60
33. R Lal 1988 Effects of macrofauna on soil properties in tropical ecosystems Agric Ecosyst Environ 24 101 116
34. Langdale-Brown I, Osmaston HA, Wilson JG (1964) The vegetation of Uganda and its bearing on the land use. Government Printer, Entebbe, Uganda
35. P Lavelle D Bignell M Lepage V Wolters P Roger P Inneson OW Heal S Dhillion 1997 Soil function in a changing world: the role of invertebrate ecosystem engineers Eur J Soil Biol 33 159 193
36. JH Lawton DE Bignell GF Bloemers P Eggleton ME Hodda 1996 Carbon flux and diversity of nematodes and termites in Cameroon forest soils Biodiv Cons 5 261 273
37. Lee KE, Wood TG (1971) Termites and soils. Academic press, London
38. J Lèonard JL Rajot 2001 Influence of termites on runoff and infiltration: quantification and analysis Geoderma 104 17 40
39. Lind EM, Morrison MES (1974) East African vegetation. Longman, London, UK
40. LA Lobry de Bruyn AJ Conacher 1990 The role of termites and ants in soil modification: a review Austr J Soil Res 28 55 93
41. JP Loveridge SR Moe 2004 Termitaria as browsing hotspots for African megaherbivores J Trop Ecol 20 337 342
42. HO Maduakor AN Okerere CC Onyeanuforo 1995 Termite mounds in relation to surrounding soils in the forest and the derived savanna zones of southeastern Nigeria Biol Fert Soils 20 157 162
43. WC Mahaney J Zippin MW Millner K Sanmugadas RGV Hancock S Aufreiter S Cambell MA Huffman M Wink D Malloch V Kalm 1999 Chemistry, mineralogy and microbiology of termite mound soil eaten by chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Western Tanzania J Trop Ecol 15 565 588
44. A Mando L Brussaard 1999 Contribution of termites to the breakdown of straw under Sahelian conditions Biol Fert Soils 29 332 334
45. A Mando L Brussaard L Stroosnijder 1999 Termite- and mulch-mediated rehabilitation of vegetation on crusted soil in West Africa Restor Ecol 7 33 41
46. C Martius 1994 Diversity and ecology of termites in Amazonian forests Pedobiol 38 407 428
47. TS McCarthy WN Ellery JM Dangerfield 1998 The role of biota in the initiation and growth of islands on the floodplain of the Okavango alluvial fan, Botswana E Surf Proc Landf 23 291 316
48. R Miedema W Van Vuure 1977 The morphological, physical and chemical properties of two mounds of Macrotermes bellicosus (Smeathman) compared with surrounding soils in Sierra Leone J Soil Sci 28 112 124
49. R Mobæk AK Narmo SR Moe 2005 Termitaria are focal feeding sites for large ungulates in Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda J Zool Lond 267 97 102
50. WL Nutting MI Haverty JP LaFage 1987 Physical and chemical alteration of soil by two subterranean termite species in Sonoran Desert grassland J Arid Env 12 233 239
51. KW Nyamphene 1986 The use of termite mounds in Zimbabwe peasant agriculture Trop Agric 63 191 192
52. MJN Okwakol 2000 Changes in termite (Isoptera) communities due to the clearance and cultivation of tropical forest in Uganda Afr J Ecol 38 1 7
53. Owen-Smith RN (1988) Megaherbivores: the influence of very large body size on ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
54. Palgrave MC (2002) Trees of Southern Africa, 3rd edn. Struik Publ, Cape Town, South Africa
55. EA Pérez-García JA Meave 2006 Coexistence and divergence of savanna and tropical dry forest in southern Mexico J Biogeog 33 438 447
56. Phillips S, Namaganda M, Lye KA (2003) 115 Ugandan grasses. Makerere herbarium handbook no. 1. Makerere University, Uganda
57. DE Pomeroy 1983 Some effects of the mound-building termites on the soils of a semi-arid area of Kenya J Soil Sci 34 555 570
58. OT Rannestad T Danielsen SR Moe S Stokke 2006 Adjacent pastoral areas support higher densities of wild ungulates than the Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda J Trop Ecol 22 675 683
59. EN Sabiiti RW Wein 1987 Fire and Acacia seeds: a hypothesis of colonization success J Ecol 74 937 946
60. G Sharam ARE Sinclair R Turkington 2006 Establishment of broad-leaved thickets in Serengeti, Tanzania: the influence of fire, browsers, grass competition, and elephants Biotropica 38 599 605
61. Tilman D (1988) Plant strategies and the dynamics and structure of plant communities. Monographs in population biology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
62. Tropin G (1983) Flore du Rwanda. Spermatophytes, vol 1-3. Musee Royal de L'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique
63. JP Watson 1969 Water movement in two termite mounds in Rhodesia J Ecol 57 441 451
64. JP Watson 1976 The composition of mounds of the termite Macrotermes falciger (Gerstäcker) on soil derived from granite in three rainfall zones of Rhodesia J Soil Sci 27 495 503
65. JP Watson 1977 The use of mounds of the termite Macrotermes falciger (Gerstäcker) as a soil amendment J Soil Sci 28 664 672
66. Whittaker RH (1977) Evolution of species diversity in land communities. In: Hecht MK, Steere WS, Wallace B (eds) Evolutionary biology, vol 10. Plenum Press, New York, USA, pp 1-67
67. H Wild 1952 The vegetation of southern Rhodesian termitaria Rhod Agric J 49 280 292
68. Wood TG (1978) Food and feeding habits of termites. In: Brian MV (ed) Production ecology of ants and termites. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 55-90
69. Wood TG, Sands WA (1978) The role of termites in ecosystems. In: Brian MV (ed) Production ecology of ants and termites. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 245-292