‘Campos de murundus’ are a typical landscape of Central Brazil characterized by countless rounded earthmounds (the ‘murundus’), which are covered by woody ‘cerrado’ (savanna) vegetation and are found scattered over a grass-covered surface (the ‘campo’). A detailed study was carried out in the region of Cuiabá, state of Mato Grosso on a particular campo de murundus (area of 5.065 ha) lying in a sedimentary depression where the earthmounds are true islands during the annual floods, allowing the colonization both by cerrado plants and by termites. The mounds were mapped and measured for their size and shape. Mounds' diameters ranged from 0.2 to 22.0 m and heights ranged from 0.1 to 1.1m. The 445 smaller mounds (< 0.8 m diameter) were found to have a clumped distribution, occupying 0.1% of the area. They are actually small termite nests built by Armitermes euamignathus. The 80 larger mounds (> 0.8 m diameter) were uniformly distributed, occupying 6.3%, of the area. These mounds are colonized by Cornitermes snyderi and Cornitermes bequaerti which build big termite nests on the summit of the mounds. Soil analyses indicated a close similarity between the campo and the surrounding cerrado whose soils had coarser texture and were poor in nutrients. Soils of the earthmounds and termite nests showed finer texture, lower pH and higher amounts of mineral nutrients. It is suggested here that this particular type of campo de murundus is formed mainly from the localized activity of nest-building by termites, followed by nest degradation, during many generations of termite colonies.

We studied the population structure, density and biomass of seven ungulate and two primate species in the tropical forests of Nagarahole, southern India, using line transect sampling and roadside/platform counts, during 1986–87. The estimated ecological densities of large herbivore species in the study area are: 4.2 muntjac km−2, 50.6 chital km−2, 5.5 sambar km−2, 0.8 four-horned antelope km−2, 9.6 gaur km−2, 4.2 wild pig km−2, 3.3 elephant km−2, 23.8 hanuman langur km−2 and 0.6 bonnet macaque km−2. Most ungulates have female-biased adult sex ratios. Among common ungulate species, yearlings and young of the year comprise about a third of the population, suggesting relatively high turn-over rates. Three species (muntjac, sambar and four-horned antelope) are solitary, while others form groups. The study area supports a wild herbivore biomass density of 14,744 kg km−2. Among the three habitat types within the study area, biomass is lower in dry deciduous forests when compared with moist deciduous or teak plantation dominant forests. Using our results, we have examined the factors that may contribute towards maintenance of high ungulate biomass in tropical forests.

Surveys of the microhabitat distribution of adult butterfly species were undertaken at three rain forest sites in North Queensland, Australia, encompassing a range of rain forest vegetation types. These surveys found little evidence for a specialist canopy fauna. Most species recorded in the canopy were often seen close to the ground. At all sites, most species were observed at the edge of the rain forest habitat; within the rain forest, more species were observed near the ground than in the canopy.

Hurricane Hugo of September 1989 caused severe damage to the rain forest in the north-rust corner of Puerto Rico. We assessed the severity of damage distributed in space, species, and size-classes of trees in the Bisley Watersheds of the Luquillo Experimental Forest. We analyzed pie- and post-hurricane data for vegetation from transects established in 1987 and 1988. The severity of damage was significantly greater in valleys than on ridges and slopes. All the species except Dacryodes excelsa, Sloanea berteriana, and Guarea guidonia showed 100% severe damage. Large trees (> 70 cm DBH) were highly susceptible to hurricane damage, but there was no clear pattern in the small size-classes. D. excelsa (tabonuco) was the most resistant to damage by the hurricane. Tabonuco which has extensive root-grafts and root anchorage to bedrock and subsurficial rocks, apparently can survive frequent hurricanes and continue as a dominant species in this montane tropical rain forest. The high frequency of hurricanes, which can override other ecological and topographic factors, may largely determine the overall spatial pattern of species in this rain forest.

Small mammal live-trapping was carried out in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, central Thailand. Trapping was done in two forest types in three seasons. Maxomys surijer was the dominant species in both plots. The three most abundant species in each plot accounted for > 90% of all captures. Community structure, density, relative abundance, biomass, age structure of populations, and habitat usage of some small mammal species varied by forest type and season. The dry evergreen/mixed deciduous forest type supported a greater abundance and biomass of small mammals than the mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest type in all seasons, although species richness was the same. The greatest density, biomass, and home-range size for Maxomys surijer occurred in the rainy season in both forest types. Seasonal changes in ratios of adults and subadulls of several species suggested a breeding peak at the end of the dry season or beginning of the rainy season. The mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest showed a drastic drop in numbers, density, and biomass of small mammals six weeks after a fire burned through it.

Estimates were made of the populations of seven nests of Macrotermes jeanneli of different sizes in Kenya. Caste and instar composition were examined, and relationships of these to the dimensions of the mound were investigated. Survival of nests of different sizes was followed over four years.

Phytomass was determined for a tropical deciduous forest in Chamela, Jalisco, México. The mean canopy height was 6.9 m, and the total basal area was 25.6 m2 ha−1 (dbh > 3.0 cm). The estimated phytomass for this forest (85 Mg ha−1) is among the highest values for tropical dry forests with similar seasonal climates. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that phytomass can be predicted firstly by basal area (R2 = 0.88), then by wood specific gravity (R2 = 0.91), and finally by the inclusion of tree height in the regression (R2 = 0.92). Each new independent variable explained significant variance in the phytomass estimation.

The ant species were sampled in one campo (grassy shrubland), one mata (semideciduous rain forest) and 11 rehabilitated bauxite mine plots at Poços de Caldas, in the humid sub-tropical climatic region of Brazil. Rehabilitation was either by planting Australian Eucalyptus spp, the Brazilian Mimosa scabrella tree, or by planting mixed mata trees. Sixty-eight ant species were recorded, of which 26 were exclusively found in the native vegetation and 16 were confined to the rehabilitated plots. Ant species richness built up most rapidly in areas rehabilitated with mixed mata species and least rapidly in areas with Eucalyptus. Younger rehabilitated plots appeared to be developing a campo-type ant community, although evidence indicates that more mata ant species will colonise once tree canopy closure takes place. Rate of ant return in Australia is positively correlated with the quantity and distribution of rainfall – the rates in the current study concur with those from humid sub-tropical climatic zones within Australia, suggesting that similar constraints to the succession may be operating. If found to be the case, this would have practical implications for planning and evaluating the success of rehabilitation.