Seasonality of soil termites in a humid tropical forest, Mbalmayo, southern Cameroon

The effects of wet and dry seasons on soil termites within a humid tropical West African forest are examined. Samples were taken monthly, over a 14-mo period, and termite abundances and species richness were estimated. These estimates were compared with the total cumulative rainfall for 30-d, 7-d and 2-d periods before each sampling. For all these time periods abundances and species richness of termites were significantly; negatively correlated with rainfall. However, the strongest correlations were generally found with the 2-d period, suggesting that short-term movement of termites up and down the soil profile may be the most important factor in the observed differences, rather than longer term changes in overall abundance or species composition. This conclusion was supported by a detrended correspondence analysis which showed no significant changes in species composition between dry and wet months.