Ants and termites in small-scale plantain farms in Uganda – A comparison between agroforestry and non-agroforestry farms
This study was conducted in Kkingo district, west of Masaka, Uganda. It compared soil macrofauna abundance in non-agroforestry farms with that of agroforestry farms. The agroforestry farms had participated in the Vi Agroforestry ́s program between 1995 and 2006, and continued on their own after 2006, when Vi Agroforestry left the area. The soil macrofauna is important for soil structure and processes that are contributing to soil organ- ic matter decomposition and nutrient mineralization. They are also predators of potential pests. The soil macrofauna generally thrives in more complex and undisturbed systems, hence, the study hypothesis was that the abundance of the studied macrofauna groups would be larger in agroforestry systems compared to non-agroforestry systems.
The sampling of macrofauna was made using monoliths (25 cm x 25 cm x 20 cm), Sampling occurred at 5 farms per farming system, totally 10 farms. At each farm, two samples were taken at each of the three sampling sites. Termites were typed to subfamilies and ants were typed to genus, with expert help at Makerere University, Kampala. Earthworms, milli- pedes, centipedes and woodlice were counted but not typed. An ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference in ant abundance (P-value 0.023) between the different sampling sites, with more ants at the most fertile parts of the farms compared to at the middle of the field (P-value 0.031).
Söderlund, S. (2013). Ants and termites in small-scale plantain farms in Uganda – A comparison between agroforestry and non-agroforestry farms. Bachelor’s Thesis. Department of Ecology. Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU). Uppsala.