The effects of tree clearing and pasture establishment on a population of mound‐building termites (Isoptera) in North Queensland

Abstract

AbstractPopulations of mound‐building termites were examined in a semi‐arid tropical woodland and in an adjacent area cleared of trees and sown with Urochloa mosambicensis 14 years previously. In that period both the density and diversity of the mound‐building termite populations were reduced in the cleared area. Only two of the six mound‐building species found in the undisturbed woodland recolonized the pasture. These species, Amitermes vitiosus and Nasutitermes longipennis, both detritus feeders, are able to survive on the Urochloa leaf material and cattle dung. The absence of the harvester species Tumulitermes pastinator, Drepanotermes perniger and Drepanotermes rubriceps from the Urochloa pasture is attributed to the lack of acceptable food resources.