Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:36:23.719Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Anderson, J. M. 1988a. Spatiotemporal effects of invertebrates on soil processes. Biology and Fertility of Soils 6:216–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J. M. 1988b. Invertebrate-mediated transport processes in soils. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 24:5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J. M. & Ingram, J. S. I. 1993. Tropical soil biology and fertility. A handbook of methods. (2nd Edition), CAB International, Wallingford. 221 pp.Google Scholar
André, H. M., Lebrun, P. & Noti, M-I. 1992. Biodiversity in Africa: a plea for more data. Journal of African Zoology 106:3–15.Google Scholar
Brown, V. K. & Gange, A. C. 1990. Insect herbivory below ground. Advances in Ecological Research 20:1–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cepeda, J. G. & Whitford, W. G. 1989. The relationship between abiotic factors and the abundance patterns of soil microarthropods on a desert watershed. Pedobiologia 33:79–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coates-Palgrave, K. 1977. Trees of Southern Africa. C. Struik, Cape Town.Google Scholar
Dangerfield, J. M. 1990. Abundance, biomass and diversity of soil macrofauna in savanna woodland and associated managed habitats. Pedobiologia 34:141–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dangerfield, J. M. In press. Soil fauna survey. Pp. 37–44 in Cotterill, F. P. D. (ed.) Monitoring biodiversity in Central African savannas. Biodiversity Foundation for Africa.Google Scholar
Dangerfield, J. M. & Telford, S. R. 1991. Seasonal activity patterns of julid millipedes in Zimbabwe. Journal of Tropical Ecology 7:281–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dangerfield, J. M., Milner, A. E. & Matthews, R. 1993. Seasonal activity patterns and behaviour of juliform millipedes in south-eastern Botswana. Journal of Tropical Ecology 8:451–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, J. F., Ponge, J. F. & Delecour, F. 1993. The saprophagous macrofauna of different types of humus in beech forests of the Ardenne (Belgium). Pedobiologia 37:49–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Decaens, T., Lavelle, P., Jimenez Jaen, J. J., Escobar, G. & Rippstein, G. 1994. Impact of land management on soil macrofauna in the Oriental Llanos of Columbia. European Journal of Soil Biology 30:157–168.Google Scholar
Gunn, A. & Cherret, J. M. 1993. The exploitation of food resources by soil meso- and macro invertebrates. Pedobiologia 37:303–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassall, M., Visser, S. & Parkinson, D. 1986. Vertical migration of Onychiurus subtenuis (Collembola) in relation to rainfall and microbial activity. Pedobiologia 29:175–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassall, M., Dangerfield, J. M., Manning, T. P. & Robinson, F. G. 1988. A modified high-gradient extractor for multiple samples of soil macro-arthropods. Pedobiologia 32:21–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntley, B. J. 1982. Southern African savannas. Pp. 101–119 in Huntley, B. J. & Walker, B. H. (eds) Ecology of tropical savannas. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaneko, N. & Takeda, H. 1990. Soil fauna in tropical woody peat soils in Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia. Proceedings 14th International Congress of Soil Science, Kyoto, Japan.Google Scholar
Lal, R. 1988. Effects of macrofauna on soil properties in tropical ecosystems. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 24:117–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamotte, M. 1989. Places des animaux détritivores et des micro organisms décomposeurs dans les flux d'énergie des savanes africaines. Pedobiologia 33:17–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavelle, P. 1988. Assessing the abundance and role of soil macroinvertebratc communities in tropical soils: Aims and methods. African Journal of Soil Zoology 102:275–283.Google Scholar
Lavelle, P. & Pashanashi, B. 1989. Soil macrofauna and land management in Peruvian Amazonia (Yurimaguas, Loreto). Pedobiologia 33:283–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavelle, P., Dangerfield, J. M., Fragoso, C., Lopez-Hernandez, D., Eschenbrenner, V., Brussard, L. & Pashanasi, B. 1994. The relationship between soil macrofauna and tropical soil fertility. Pp. 137–169. in Woomer, P. L. & Swift, M. J. (eds). The biological management of tropical soil fertility. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.Google Scholar
Lavelle, P., Spain, A. V., Blanchart, E., Martin, A. & Martin, S. 1992. The impact of soil fauna on the properties of soils in the humid tropics. Pp. 157–185 in Lai, R. & Sanchez, P. A. (eds). Myths and science of soils in the tropics. SSSA Special Publication No. 29.Google Scholar
Lawton, J. H. 1994. What do species do in ecosystems. Oikos 71:367–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H. & McGarvin, M. 1986. The organisation of herbivore communities. Pp. 163–186 in Kikkawa, J. & Anderson, D. J. (eds) Community ecology: pattern and process. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Leakey, R. J. G. & Proctor, J. 1987. Invertebrates in the litter and soil at a range of altitudes on Gunung Silam, a small unltrabasic mountain in Sabah. Journal of Tropical Ecology 3:119–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, K. E. & Foster, R. C. 1991. Soil fauna and soil structure. Australian Journal of Soil Research 29:745–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewin, R. 1986. In ecology, change brings stability. Science 234:1071–1073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lobry De Bruyn, L. A. & Conacher, A. J. 1990. The role of termites and ants in soil modification: a review. Australian Journal of Soil Research 28:55–93.Google Scholar
Moore, J. C. & De Rutter, P. C. 1991. Temporal and spatial heterogeneity of trophic interactions within below-ground food webs. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 34:371–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reddy, M. V. & Venkataiah, B. 1990. Seasonal abundance of soil-surface arthropods in relation to some meteorological and edaphic variables of the grassland and tree-planted areas in a tropical semi-arid savanna. International Journal of Biometeorology 34:49–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaefer, M. 1990. The soil fauna of a beech forest on limestone: trophic structure and energy budget. Oecologia 82:128–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schuurman, G. & Dangerfield, J. M. 1994. Abundance, distribution and feeding ecology of fungus growing termites of the genus Macrotermes in Moremi Game Reserve. Second Quarterly Research Report. Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Gaborone.Google Scholar
Swift, M. J., Heal, O. W. & Anderson, J. M. 1979. Decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems. Studies in Ecology No.5, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallwork, J. A. 1982. Desert soil fauna. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Weiher, E. & Keddy, P. A. 1995. Assembly rules, null models, and trait dispersion: new questions from old patterns. Oikos 74:159–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitford, W. G. 1989. Abiotic controls on the functional structure of soil food webs. Biology and Fertility of Soils 8:1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitford, W. G. & Parker, L. W. 1989. Contributions of soil fauna to decomposition and mineralisation processes in semi-arid and arid ecosystems. Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation 3:199–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar