Nutrient dynamics and plant assemblages of Macrotermes falciger mounds in a savanna ecosystem |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa;2. Department of Environmental Science, Bindura University of Science Education, Private Bag 1020, Bindura, Zimbabwe;3. Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, National University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box AC 939 Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe;4. Forest Ecology Laboratory, Faculty of Applied Sciences, National University of Science & Technology, P.O. Box AC 939 Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe;1. Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Herbário FURB, Universidade Regional de Blumenau – FURB, Rua Antônio da Veiga, 140, Bairro Victor Konder, 89012-900, Blumenau, SC, Brazil;2. Embrapa Florestas, Estrada da Ribeira, km 111, 83411-000, Colombo, PR, Brazil;3. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Laboratório de Ecologia Teórica e Síntese, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Samambaia, Caixa Postal 131, 74690-900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil;4. Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Regional de Blumenau – FURB, Rua São Paulo, 3250, 89030-000, Blumenau, SC, Brazil;1. Department of Plant Ecology and Environmental Conservation, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland;2. Department of Botany, Kherson State University, ul. Universytetska 27, 73000 Kherson, Ukraine;1. Núcleo de Ciências Agrárias e Desenvolvimento Rural, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil;2. Núcleo de Ecologia de Insetos, Hexapoda, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil;3. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil;4. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil;1. Department of Ecology, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil;2. Laboratory of Genetics and Biodiversity, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goias, Goiania, Goias, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Termites through mound construction and foraging activities contribute significantly to carbon and nutrient fluxes in nutrient-poor savannas. Despite this recognition, studies on the influence of termite mounds on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in sub-tropical savannas are limited. In this regard, we examined soil nutrient concentrations, organic carbon and nitrogen mineralization in incubation experiments in mounds of Macrotermes falciger and surrounding soils of sub-tropical savanna, northeast Zimbabwe. We also addressed whether termite mounds altered the plant community and if effects were similar across functional groups i.e. grasses, forbs or woody plants. Mound soils had significantly higher silt and clay content, pH and concentrations of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), organic carbon (C), ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3−) than surrounding soils, with marginal differences in phosphorus (P) and sodium (Na) between mounds and matrix soils. Nutrient enrichment increased by a factor ranging from 1.5 for C, 4.9 for Mg up to 10.3 for Ca. Although C mineralization, nitrification and nitrification fraction were similar between mounds and matrix soils, nitrogen mineralization was elevated on mounds relative to surrounding matrix soils. As a result, termite mounds supported unique plant communities rich and abundant in woody species but less diverse in grasses and forbs than the surrounding savanna matrix in response to mound-induced shifts in soil parameters specifically increased clay content, drainage and water availability, nutrient status and base cation (mainly Ca, Mg and Na) concentration. In conclusion, by altering soil properties such as texture, moisture content and nutrient status, termite mounds can alter the structure and composition of sub-tropical savanna plant communities, and these results are consistent with findings in other savanna systems suggesting that increase in soil clay content, nutrient status and associated changes in the plant community assemblage may be a general property of mound building termites. |
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| Keywords: | Diversity Mineralization Nitrogen Savanna Termite |
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