Abstract
Termites can play a localized prominent role in soil nutrient availability and cycling because mound materials are often enriched in nutrients relative to surrounding soil. Mound materials may thus prove to be useful amendments, though evidently mound spatial arrangement needs to be considered as well. Furthermore, it is not known if gradients of soil properties exist from termite mound to interspace sites. Studying both aspects would be required to decide whether spreading of mounds or spatially differentiated management of surrounding crop to accommodate soil fertility gradients would be valid nutrient-management strategies. Mound abundance and mass were estimated at 9 and 4 mounds ha−1, representing 38.9 and 6.3 t ha−1 on Nitisols and Vertisols, respectively. Soil physical and chemical properties were measured on samples collected from internal and external parts of mounds and adjacent soils at 0.5, 1 and 10 m away from mounds. In general, termite mounds were enriched in plant nutrients and SOC on Vertisols but not on Nitisols. Termite mounds constituted only 0.3 to 1.3% of the 0–15 cm SOM stock on a per ha basis but nevertheless the immediate vicinity of termite mounds was a relative fertile hotspot. Hence, under the studied condition, we suggest spatial arrangement of crop around termite mounds according to soil fertility gradient and spatially differentiated nutrient management strategies. Our result suggests recommendation of termite mound spreading for soil nutrient amendment has to consider plant nutrient stock in termite mounds on per ha basis besides their nutrient enrichment. Interesting topics for future investigation would be growth experiment for different crops with mound materials treatment. It would also be interesting to study the effect mound building termite on soil properties under different soil conditions, slope class and land use.
Highlights
In contrast to common reports, termite mounds at both sites were relatively not cemented, not too hard to scratch and were augured. This was evidenced by the growth of vegetation on the surface of the mounds that partly contributed to loosening of the external parts of the termite mounds, along with weathering and erosion with time
The study showed termite mounds were significantly enriched in plant nutrients and SOC on Vertisols, whereas not on the Nitisols compared to control soils
Termite mounds constitute only a store of 43.15 and 6.32 kg ha−1 of Nt and 639 and 102 kg ha−1 of SOC corresponding to 1.25% and 0.27% of the stock of SOC in the upper 15 cm soil layer on Nitisols and Vertisols, respectively
Summary
Current farming mainly uses mineral fertilizer to boost agronomic yield [1]. Mineral fertilizers substantially increased crop yield especially after green revolution. The average application rate of mineral fertilizer is tenfold lower in sub-Saharan Africa than in other continents [2]. Common reasons for low fertilizer application are: (i) the majority of African subsistence farmers are unable to afford mineral fertilizer because of its high price [4,5], (ii) farmers’ limited access to inputs because of poor infrastructure [6], (iii) and poor response of crops to mineral fertilizer because of moisture stress [5]. Low crop productivity is a general problem facing most farming systems in Sub- Saharan Africa [7].
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