d5a8d3f2-9bad-4724-b793-daf78f8bca29
https://ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=uganda-woodly
Mound building termites contribute to savanna vegetation heterogeneity- woody plants, forbs and graminoids
Stein R.
Moe
NMBU
Ås
NO
stein.moe@nmbu.no
Mari
Steinert
NMBU
Ås
NO
mari.steinert@nmbu.no
http://www.nmbu.no
Stein R.
Moe
NMBU
Ås
NO
stein.moe@nmbu.no
author
Ragnhild
Mobæk
NMBU
Ås
NO
author
Anne Kjersti
Narmo
NMBU
Ås
NO
author
2019-12-13
eng
With biomass densities comparable to large ungulates and megaherbivores, termites play a key functional role in many tropical savanna ecosystems. This study focuses on vegetated termite mounds (termitaria) constructed by the Termitidae species Macrotermes herus. We studied how resource rich termitaria affect graminoid herbs (Poaceae and Cyperaceae), forbs and woody species composition and diversity. The density of termitaria explained 89% of the variation in dense thickets in the area. Fire tolerant Acacia species dominated the open savanna while fire sensitive species like Grewia spp. and the succulent Euphorbia candelabrum were restricted to termite mounds. Termitaria plots had four times the mean number of woody species and supported three times as many forb species as the adjacent savanna. For woody species, both the Shannon–Wiener index and the Shannon evenness index were higher on temitaria than on the savanna. There were no differences for graminoid herbs, except for the Shannon evenness index which was higher on termitaria. Our results indicate that graminoid herb richness peaks at lower productivity levels than trees and forbs in savanna ecosystems, as also recently found in temperate areas.
Occurrence
GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml
Observation
GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml
Biodiversity
termitaria
woody plants
forbs
graminoids
n/a
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License.
Uganda, Lake Mburo National Park
29.136
35.244
4.39
-1.977
2001
2004
notPlanned
Stein R.
Moe
NMBU
Ås
NO
stein.moe@nmbu.no
2017-02-24T03:29:00.749+01:00
dataset
Moe, Stein R., Ragnhild Mobæk, and Anne Kjersti Narmo. "Mound building termites contribute to savanna vegetation heterogeneity." Norwegian University of Life sciences, NMBU
Moe, Stein R., Ragnhild Mobæk, and Anne Kjersti Narmo. "Mound building termites contribute to savanna vegetation heterogeneity." Plant Ecology 202.1 (2009): 31.
d5a8d3f2-9bad-4724-b793-daf78f8bca29/v1.6.xml