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Abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna in northern Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

J. M. Dangerfield
J. M. Dangerfield
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Botswana, Private Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana
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Abstract

The abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna were assessed in a range of vegetation types in northern Botswana. Hand-sorting of soil was used to extract all fauna greater than 2 mm body length from sandy soils in both the dry season (June) and towards the end of the single rainy season (February). Abundance varied significantly between samples from within a sampling location, within a vegetation type and occasionally between seasons. Greater densities were found in wet season samples from locations within closed canopy woodland except where permanent water was a significant feature of the habitat. Overall abundance was comparable to published estimates from more moist tropical and temperate habitats suggesting an important role for soil macrofauna in semi-arid systems. Ordinal level diversity also varied significantly within vegetation types and with season.

Keywords

BotswanaColeopteraFormicidaeIsopteraseasonallysemi-aridvegetation structure
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , July 1997 , pp. 527 - 538
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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