Properties of Arboreal Ant and Ground-Termite Nests in relation to Their Nesting Sites and Location in a Tropical-Derived Savanna

Table 4

Main effects of soil engineers’ nesting substrate (site) on the mean values of some physicochemical properties of their biogenic structures.

Soil engineer

Nesting site

C^1 (%)

N^1 (%)

SOM^1 (%)

Base^1 Sat. (%)

CEC

Exchangeable bases

pH value

𝑃 (mg/kg)

Particle size (%)^1

Textural class

Ca^2+

Mg^2+

K^+

Na^+

H2O

KCl

Clay

Silt

Fine sand

C. Sand

Ant

C. nitida

7.32b

0.37ab

12.6b

40.9c

27.9a

5.15 + I

5.20e

0.59a

0.51a

6.38ab

6.33b

53.9c

12.5a

11.0a

17.0a

59.5a

SL

Ant

I. gabonensis

9.14b

0.88b

15.8bc

36.3bc

45.3a

2.80a

5.75f

1.74b

0.51a

6.75ab

6.30b

54.2c

16.0a

18.0a

11.5a

54.5a

SL

Ant

M. indica

6.98b

0.46ab

12.0b

22.7ab

39.2a

2.15a

1.95bc

1.69b

0.46a

6.28a

5.68a

43.0b

17.5a

15.0a

10.2a

57.2a

SL

Ant

N. leavis

7.01b

0.41ab

16.5c

36.2b

45.5a

6.08b

4.50d

1.03a

0.54a

7.28b

6.35b

47.0b

10.5a

13.5a

16.8a

55.5a

SL

Ant

P. macrophylla

8.27b

1.28b

14.4b

20.0a

36.1a

2.15a

2.30c

1.78b

0.49a

6.80b

6.18b

42.8b

15.5a

12.0a

19.1a

53.2a

SL

Termite

Ground

1.23a

0.19a

2.5a

20.9a

36.2a

1.45a

1.00a

0.20a

0.45a

6.60ab

5.63a

23.6a

13.5a

9.0a

20.5a

56.5a

SL

𝐹-value

11.94

15.28

9.66

3.83

1.86

38.48

20.05

47.66

2.14

12.99

8.49

5.28

0.92

2.62

0.68

0.55

d.f.

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

𝑃 value

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

0.012

0.142

<0.001

<0.001

<0.001

0.098

<0.001

<0.001

0.002

0.489

0.053

0.641

0.731

SOM: soil organic matter and SL: sandy loam; C. Sand: coarse sand; P: phosphorus. C: carbon; N: nitrogen; CEC: cation exchange capacity.
¹Results of angular transformed data presented in the original scale.
Values within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different.