PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 30: Invertebrate Ecology
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Activity of termites and other epigeal invertebrates in Natural semi-deciduous forest and plantation forests in Benin.

Serge Eric, Attignon^*,1, Thibault, Lachat², Brice, Sinsin, Ralf, Peveling, ¹ Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Cotonou, Littoral, Benin² Institut for Environmental Sciences, Basel, Basel, Switzerland

ABSTRACT- Soil invertebrates represent an important base of terrestrial food chains and play an important role in maintaining the soil fertility and productivity of forest ecosystems. We examined the activity of termites and other soil- and litter-dwelling invertebrates in natural semi-deciduous forest, teak plantations of different age and firewood plantations of the Lama forest reserve, Benin, using a cardboard baiting method. The frequency of occurrence of individual invertebrates attracted to the baits was measured from May 2002 to April 2004, covering two rainy and two dry seasons. Twenty-one different invertebrate groups were sampled. The overall frequency of occurrence of invertebrates differed among forest types. It was significantly higher in natural forest (476) than in young teak (377) and old teak plantations (338). No significant differences were found among firewood plantations (412) and the other forest types. Analyses of individual taxa showed that Isopoda, Hymenoptera and Araneae dominated in natural forest, with frequencies of occurrence of 94, 25 and 27, respectively. Collembola dominated in firewood plantations (127), whereas Isopteran and Diplopod were more active in old teak plantations, with frequencies of occurrence of 65 and 49, respectively. Overall, Collembola, Isopoda, Isopteran, Diplopod, Araneae and Hymenoptera (ants) were the most frequent soil invertebrates of Lama forest. Repeated measures analyses showed significant differences in the frequency of occurrence among seasons for all majors invertebrate groups, as well as significant differences among forest types for all these groups except Diplopoda and Araneae. The activity of soil invertebrates was usually lowest during the long dry season. Moreover, termites were more active in old teak plantations (ferralsol soils) than in the other forest types (vertisol soils).

Key words: Semi-deciduous tropical forest, termites and soil invertebrates, cardboard-baiting, Benin