Soil-sampled Termites in Two Contrasting Ecosystems within the Semiarid Domain in Northeastern Brazil: Abundance, Biomass, and Seasonal Influences

Araújo, Virgínia; Silva, Moabe Pina; Vasconcellos, Alexandre

doi:10.13102/sociobiology.v62i1.70-75

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The species Rhinotermes hispidus, Nasutitermes gaigei, and Velocitermes velox represent new records for montane forests. Including those three new records, approximately 48 species have now been identified to the species level in eight inventoried montane forests (Bandeira & Vasconcellos 2002, Bandeira & Vasconcellos 2004, Vasconcellos & Moura 2014, Araújo et al 2015, Couto et al 2015. Studies focusing on termite diversity in montane forests have usually been unable to identify between 24 and 53% of the morphospecies encountered, indicating the existence of new species and/or taxonomic difficulties (principally related to the subfamily Apicotermitinae).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Termite fauna of montane forests have been investigated in six different areas, generating species lists (Vasconcellos & Moura 2014, Couto et al 2015 and studies of the influence of anthropogenic disturbances on termite assemblages (Bandeira & Vasconcellos 2002, Bandeira & Vasconcellos 2004 and their vertical stratification (Araújo et al 2015). The present study sought to characterize the structures of termite assemblages in two montane forest areas in northeastern Brazil in terms of their species richness, relative abundance, feeding groups, and nest densities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Termite assemblages (Blattaria, Isoptera) in two montane forest (Brejo de Altitude) areas in northeastern Brazil

2019

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Wet enclaves of montane forests in Caatinga domain, locally known as "Brejos de Altitude", are associated with plateau at altitudes greater than 500 m a.s.l. and to orographic rainfall. Termite assemblage structures were studied in two areas of montane forest (Brejo de Altitude) located in the municipalities of Bezerros and São Vicente Ferrer, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Sampling was performed in 65 x 2 m transects, totaling 300 m2/per area; the densities of nests in each area were estimated using six 1300 m2 plots. A total of 35 morphospecies were recorded that belonged to 21 genera and three families, with 133 encounters. The soil-feeders feeding group predominated, followed by wood-feeders species. A total of five species constructing conspicuous nest were recorded in the two areas. The mean density of active conspicuous nests was 2.6 ± 6.3 nests/ha (mean ± sd) in Bezerros, and 21.8 ± 21.4 nests/ha in São Vicente Ferrer. Termite richness in the study areas were within the amplitude ranges recorded in other montane forests. Thus, the results presented here, combined with data from literature, reinforce need additional studies of the termite fauna in montane forest areas, once the "Brejos" are currently under high ecological pressure and their preservation is urgent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Termite assemblages (Blattaria, Isoptera) in two montane forest (Brejo de Altitude) areas in northeastern Brazil

2019

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“…The average annual precipitation, temperature and humidity are 560 ± 230 mm (mean ± standard deviation), 25°C and 65%, respectively (Governo do Estado da Paraíba 1985), with rains concentrated mainly from January to May (Barbosa et al 2015). This area was chosen because it is a well-preserved biological reserve (3505 ha) and because it has a relatively well-known termite fauna (Vasconcellos et al 2010b;Araújo et al 2015).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulated precipitation and air density are linked to termite (Blattodea) flight synchronism in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in north‐eastern Brazil

et al. 2021

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Termite dispersal flights (Blattodea: Termitoidae) are influenced by several factors that are intrinsic and extrinsic to colonies and vary according to the environment and target species. This study aimed to evaluate the main characteristics of the dispersal flights of a termite community and the environmental variables related to these flights in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest, situated in the semiarid region of north-eastern Brazil. The alates were collected with trays placed on the ground. Sampling was carried out over a year, with weekly trap reviews. Flight peaks started in February; i.e. these events were more frequent and alates from all species were captured. The trays were checked daily for 40 days during this period. A principal coordinate analysis was performed to determine the response variables and, after that, a generalised linear model was performed to analyse the relationship between these variables and environmental variations. Alates of 37 species were captured and the community flight pattern proved to be synchronised and highly temporally concentrated, regardless of family, subfamily or even genera. The daily sampling analysis showed that 97% of species flights occurred between the 13th and 33rd days following the start of the 40 days of daily revisions. The number of flight occurrences and species composition were significantly influenced by the accumulated precipitation over 72 h and air density. The latter variable was evaluated for the first time in this type of study. The high synchronism between species may be related to the brief period in which arid and semiarid ecosystems have the correct conditions for alate flights, which is different to alate flight occurrence in tropical rainforests, where the environmental conditions usually allow termites to fly throughout the entire year.

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“…Although Beninese farmers have mentioned 8 species of termites as potential maize pests (Loko et al, 2019a), no study has focused on the assessment of their diversity, abundance, and feeding habits, which are important elements for targeting the termite pest species for which an integrated pest management program should be developed, and predict which termite species have the potential to become pests. Knowing that, termite species distributions are influenced by environmental factors (Cancello et al, 2014;Araújo et al 2015;Janowiecki et al, 2020) and soil properties (Muvengwi et al, 2017), it is therefore important to evaluate termite assemblage composition, abundance, and damages in maize plantations throughout diverse agro-ecological zones in Republic of Benin. In fact, understanding the variation of termite assemblage composition and the extent of damages throughout agroecological zones will permit to develop specific management strategies adapted to each zone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Termites and maize crops: assemblage composition, damage level, and varietal sensitivity in contrasting agro-ecological zones of the Republic of Benin

Loko

Toffa

Orobiyi

et al. 2021

International Journal of Pest Management

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Termites are considered as important pests of maize plantations in Republic of Benin. However, very little information is available on their assemblage composition, abundance, damages, and on the sensitivity of common maize varieties in Benin. This study aims to fill these gaps and provide baseline for the development of an integrated termite management in maize plantations. Therefore, 60 maize fields across 30 villages located in four agro-ecological zones of southern Benin were prospected using the standardized method of belt transects. In addition, the resistance of five maize varieties to termite attacks was evaluated on-farm during two consecutive seasons (2018 and 2019). Fifteen termite species belonging to 11 genera, 6 subfamilies and 3 families were collected in the prospected maize fields. Four species (Macrotermes subhyalinus Rambur, Coptotermes sjostedti Holmgren, Amitermes evuncifer Silvestri, and Trinevitermes germinatus Wasmann) were found in all agro-ecological zones with A. evuncifer as the most abundant species. High similarity indices of termite assemblages were found between the four agro-ecological zones. Wood-feeders group and species nesting in hypogeal nests were the mostly abundant in all agro-ecological zones. The attack rate of termites in maize fields was 16.9% and did not vary significantly between agro-ecological zones. A. evuncifer and C. sjostedti were significantly the most destructive species on the five evaluated varieties, although Trinevitermes oeconomus Trägardh was most abundant in leaf sheaths; M. subhyalinus and Macrotermes bellicossus Smeathman in the stem; Pseudacanthotermes militaris Hagen and Odontotermes sp. in the roots. Termite damage level to maize depended of the variety. Korga variety was classified as highly resistant to termite attacks; Agbadé kouin winiwini variety as resistant; Igbado tchakpa variety as moderately resistant. While, Elèkpèrè and Forkui varieties were classified as highly susceptible. The three maize varieties identified as resistant to termite attack should be included in the development of an integrated termite management program and in future breeding programs.

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Soil-sampled Termites in Two Contrasting Ecosystems within the Semiarid Domain in Northeastern Brazil: Abundance, Biomass, and Seasonal Influences

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Termite assemblages (Blattaria, Isoptera) in two montane forest (Brejo de Altitude) areas in northeastern Brazil

Termite assemblages (Blattaria, Isoptera) in two montane forest (Brejo de Altitude) areas in northeastern Brazil

Accumulated precipitation and air density are linked to termite (Blattodea) flight synchronism in a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in north‐eastern Brazil

Termites and maize crops: assemblage composition, damage level, and varietal sensitivity in contrasting agro-ecological zones of the Republic of Benin

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