Abstract:
Termites are reported to improve soil physicochemical properties thereby
enhance soil fertility of their mound and foraging areas. Empirical study
pertaining to these effects is missing in Southwest Ethiopia. For this study,
soil samples affected by termite activities were collected at 1 m interval
within 0–3 m distance from the base of six termite mounds on gently
sloping and sloping land and analyzed for physicochemical parameters.
The result of the analysis depicted that soil bulk density (1.38–1.15 g cm −3 )
and moisture content (21.1–9.9%) decreased with increased distance from
the mound base. While clay content decreased with increased distance
from the mound base from72.0% to 45.5%, sand and silt contents increased
from 8.0% to 21.3% and 19.3% to 28.5%, respectively. PH (6.23), organic
carbon (3.85%), total nitrogen (0.4%), cation exchange capacity CEC
(30.43 cmol kg −1 ), exchangeable Ca (13.73 cmol kg −1 ), Mg (3.15 cmol kg −1 ),
and PBS (56.8%) were higher on termite mounds. While, electrical conduc-
tivity (0.03 dS m −1 –0.06 dS m −1 ), exchangeable K (0.52–0.93 cmol kg −1 ) and
Na (0.02–0.03 cmol kg −1 ) showed increasing trend with the distance from
the mound base. Our results indicated that termite mounds are important
sinks of organic matter and mineral nutrients, and hence contribute to the
enhancement of soil fertility. Thus, for subsistent farmers the uses of termite
mounds as a fertilizer present an opportunity to improve agricultural
production.
