Browsing by Author "Materu, Christopher L."

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    Termite (Isoptera) Assemblages in Rufiji District Tanzania
    (2013) Materu, Christopher L.; Yarro, Jacob; Nyundo, Bruno A.
    Different land uses tend to affect termite feeding groups, abundance and species richness. Termites play a major role in the ecosystem particularly decomposition process, carbon and nitrogen cycling. Termite diversity differs between habitats depending on human activities. The main objective of this study was to investigate termite assemblage under different land use. Termites were sampled with a standardized 100m × 2m straight-belt transect at three named habitats. The difference in feeding groups was statistically not significant. Though termite feeding group variations across habitats were caused by human activities but changes were not high enough to cause significant differences. The results from this study provide a database on termite feeding groups which will be useful for future research in the district.
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    Termite Species Richness, Diversity under Different Land Use in Rufiji District
    (2015) Materu, Christopher L.; Nyundo, Bruno A.
    Termite population and foraging behavior is much affected by different land use. Variation in termite species diversity is considered as changes of bio indicators in the selected habitat types. Despite of various benefits obtained from termites little information is known from termite species richness, diversity as well as evenness in response to different land use. A standard transect lines was used to collect termites from 10cm deep to 2M above the ground, hand sorted from the selected different land use. Sampling effort was 1hr per quadrat in all selected land use. Collected specimens were preserved in 70% ethanol for laboratory identification. Termites species encountered during the study period were 16 species from forest, 13 species from cropland and 7 species from grassland habitat types. The coefficient community similarity from different land use was high ranging from 60% to 70% The termites population differences from selected habitat types showed significant differences (P=0.05). This study was carried out to investigate the response of termite population in relation to different land use in Rufiji district which can be used for future research.