Grass Litter Loss Due to Decay and Termite Activity on a Tallgrass Prairie

Abstract

The role of microbial decay and subterranean termites (Blattodea: Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) in loss of litter mass was evaluated on the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve (TGPP) of The Nature Conservancy in northeastern Oklahoma. Four field sites, each consisting of four blocks of land with each block sub-divided into two plots were established. Using in-ground baiting systems, termites were eliminated from one plot in each block. Galvanized steel mesh bags containing grass litter were placed on both the soil surface and buried 15 cm deep in plots containing foraging termites (not baited), and in plots without termites (baited) and evaluated for loss of litter mass after 12 months. Loss of litter mass from soil-surface bags in termite-infested, non-baited plots was 22.3%, while loss from soil-surface bags in termite-free baited plots was 25.0%. Loss of litter mass from buried bags in termite non-baited plots was 35.5%, while loss from buried bags in termite-free baited plots was 35.7%. There were no significant differences in loss of litter mass in non-baited versus baited plots, but loss of mass from buried bags was significantly greater than that from soil surface bags.