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Termites and the turnover of dead wood in an arid tropical environment

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Summary

The standing crop of woody litter (317 g m-2) and its rate of production (30.8 g m-2 a-1) and disappearance (27.8 g m-2 a-1) were measured in Tsavo National Park, Kenya, at a site with a mean rainfall of 352 mm a-1. Dead wood took about 11 years to disappear completely. Almost all of this wood is removed by termites, 90% by the fungus-cultivating subfamily Macrotermitinae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Ecology Research Group, Zoology Department, South Parks Road, Oxford, England

    R. D. Buxton

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  1. R. D. Buxton
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Buxton, R.D. Termites and the turnover of dead wood in an arid tropical environment. Oecologia 51, 379–384 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540909

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540909

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