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Abundance and Distribution of Termites (Isoptera) in a Riparian Forest in the Southern Guinea Savanna Vegetation Zone of Nigeria

Thirty-three species of termites were found in a riparian forest in the Southern Guinea savanna zone of Nigeria. Their total abundance and biomass was 2646 m-2 and 6.90 g m-2, respectively. The dominant trophic group was the soil-feeders (2369 m-2 and 6.18 g m-2), although the wood-feeders (28 m-2 and 0.03 g m-2) were underestimated by excluding the arboreal-nesting Nasutitermes and Microcerotermes, and likewise the fungus-growers (249 m-2 and 0.69 g m-2) by excluding the mound-building Macrotermes. Only three of the 20 species of soil-feeders constructed epigeal nests (mounds), the rest being subterranean. Nearly all species were most abundant in the upper 25 cm; some species moved to deeper levels in the dry season although there were no differences in abundance of species between wet and dry seasons. An adjacent cultivated area, cleared of forest, supported only eight species with an overall abundance of 1151 m-2 and biomass of 5.38 g m-2. The most significant quantitative changes resulting from clearing and cultivation were the decrease in abundance of soil-feeders to 81 m-2 and the increase in abundance (from very rare) of the wood-feeding Amitermes evuncifer to 832 m-2. Thirty-one species were found in a semi-deciduous forest in the forest zone. The abundance and biomass of the subterranean population was 3163 m-2 and 8.0 g m-2, respectively, and, in contrast to the riparian forest, the dominant trophic group was the wood-feeders (2530 m-2), fungus-growers comprised 428 m-2 with soil-feeders (205 m-2) being uncommon. The relative abundance of the different trophic groups of termites in Neotropical, Ethiopian, and Oriental forests is discussed in relation to ecological factors (forest type) and the zoogeographical distribution of the different taxa. FOREST AND SAVANNA are the two major biomes in West Africa south of the Sahara desert. The former occupies a narrow zone adjacent and approximately parallel to the coast, while the latter covers an area north of the forest and extends into semi-arid zones adjacent to the Sahara. Forest consists of evergreen and semi-deciduous trees forming a closed canopy over an open, lower stratum of regenerating trees and a discontinuous herbaceous stratum from which grasses are absent. Savanna consists of semi-deciduous trees forming an olpen canopy over a discontinuous shrub stratum and largely continuous herbaceous stratum dominated by grasses. The boundary between forest and savanna is often abrupt, even less than 50 m wide (Hopkins 1974), and the maintenance of the sharp boundary is aided by annual fires in the savanna and their virtual absence from the forest. Within the savanna zone there are localized areas of forest vegetation, although they are frequently very much reduced in diversity and canopy height and probably provide an environment intermediate between savanna and true forest. They take the form of small patches of forest associated with swamps or moist, shaded localities (forest outliers) or narrow,