Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-06T12:46:37.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Floodplain ‘murundus’ of Central Brazil: evidence for the termite-origin hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Ary Teixeira De Oliveira-Filho
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciências Florestais, Escola Superior de Agricultura de Lavras, 37200, Lavras, MG, Brazil

Abstract

‘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.

Resumo

Murundus de pantanal: evidências para a hipótese da origem pelos cupins. Os campos de murundus constituem uma paisagem típica do Brasil Central caracterizada por um campo graminoso onde se distribuem incontáveis montes de terra arredondados (os murundus) revestidos por vegetação lenhosa de cerrado. Um estudo detalhado foi conduzido na região de Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, em um campo de murundus (área de 5,065 ha) alojado em uma depressão sedimentar onde OS montes de terra representam verdadeiras ilhas durante as inundações anuals, o que permite sua colonização tanto por plantas típicas de cerrado como por cupins de montículo. Os murundus foram mepeados e medidos, revclando diâmetros entre 0,2 e 22,0 m e alturas entre 0,1 e 1,1m. Os 445 murundus menores (<0,8 m de diametro) aprescntaram uma distribuição espacial fortemente agrupada, ocupando 0,1 % da area do campo. Estcs murundus são, na verdade, pequenos cupinzeiros construídos por Armitermes euamignathus. Os 80 murundus maiores (> 0,8 m dc diâmctro) apresentaram uma distribuição espacial uniforme, ocupando 6,3% da área do campo. Estes murundus são colonizados por Cornitermes snyderi e Cornitermes bequaerti que constroem grandes cupinzeiros no topo dos murundus. As análises de solo indicaram uma maior similaridade entre o campo e o cerrado circundante, cujos solos tiveram textura mais grossa e menores teores de nutrientes. Os solos dos murundus e dos cupinzeiros mostraram textura mais fina, pH mais baixo e maiores teores de nutrientes. É sugerido aqui que este tipo particular de campo de murundus é formado principalmente a partir da atividade localizada de construção de cupinzeiros, seguida da degradação dos mesmos, durante várias gerações de colônias de cupins.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Adamson, A. M. 1942. Termites and the fertility of soils. Tropical Agriculture 20:107112.Google Scholar
Arshad, M. A. 1981. Physical and chemical properties of termite mounds of two species of Macrotermes (Isoptera, Termitidae) and the surrounding soils of the semi-arid savanna of Kenya. Soil Science 132:161174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, S. P. & Mohan, S. C. 1976. Some characteristics of termitaria soils in relation to their surroundings in New Forest Estate, Dehra Dun. The Indian Forester 102:257263.Google Scholar
Boyer, J. 1983. Microrelief de butte basses sur sols inondés saisonnierement au Sud-Shaba (Zaire). Catena 10:253265.Google Scholar
Clark, P. J. & Evans, F. C. 1954. Distance to nearest neighbours as a measure of spatial relationships in populations. Ecology 35:445453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, M. M. 1960. Cerrado, caatinga and pantanal; the distribution and origin of savanna vegetation of Brazil. Geographical Journal 126:168179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, G. W. & Gakahu, C. G. 1985. Mima-mound micro-topography and vegetation patterns in Kenyan savannas. Journal of Tropical Ecology 1:2326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diniz, de Araujo, Neto, M. 1981. Solos, agua e relevo dos campos de murundus na Fazenda Agua Limpa. Distrito Federal. Unpublished Masters thesis in Ecology, University of Brasília, Brazil.Google Scholar
Diniz de Araujo Neto, M., Furley, P. A., Haridasan, M. & Johnson, C. E. 1986. The murundus of the cerrado region of Central Brazil. Journal oj Tropical Ecology 2:1735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Domingos, D. J. 1983. O ninho de Armitermes euamignathus (Isoptera, Termitidae): caracteristicas gerais. crescimento e associações. Ciencia e Cullura 35:783789.Google Scholar
Egler, I. 1984. Importância dos cupinzeiros de Procornitermes araujoi (Isoptera, Termitidae) na ciclagem de nutrientes em um cerrado de Brasilia. Unpublished Masters thesis in Ecology, University of Brasília, Brazil.Google Scholar
Eiten, G. 1972. The cerrado vegetation of Brazil. The Botanical Review 38:201341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eiten, G. 1975. The vegetation of the Serra do Roncador. Biotropica 7:112135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fundação João, Pinheiro 1975. Aspectos geomorfológicos da área do Projeto Sagarana. Revista da Fundação João Pinheiro 5:1418.Google Scholar
Furley, P. A. 1986. Classification and distribution of murundus in the cerrado of Central Brazil. Journal of Biogeography 13:265268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furley, P. A. & Ratter, J. A. 1988. Soil resources and communities of central Brazilian cerrado and their development. Journal of Biogeography 15:97108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holt, J. A., Coventry, R. J. & Sinclair, D. F. 1980. Some aspects of the biology and pedological significance of mound-building termites in a red and yellow earth landscape near Charters Towers, North Queensland. Australian Journal of Soil Resources 18:97109.Google Scholar
Laker, M. C., Hewitt, P. H., Neil, A. & Hunt, R. P. 1982. Effects of the termite Trinervitermes trinervoides Sjösted on the organic carbon and nitrogen contents and particle-size distribution of soils. Revue d'Ecologie et de Biologie du Sol 19:2739.Google Scholar
Lee, R. E. & Wood, Y. G. 1971. Termites and soils. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Mathews, A. G. A. 1977. Studies on termites from the Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Academia Brasileira de Clências, Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar
Miedema, A. R. & Van Vuure, W. 1977. The morphological, physical and chemical properties of two mounds of Macrotermes bellicosus (Smeathman) compared with surrounding soils in Sierra Leone. Journal of Soil Science 28:112124.Google Scholar
Nye, P. H. 1955. Some soil forming processes in the humid tropics IV. The action of soil fauna. Journal of Soil Science 6:7383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A. T. 1988. A vegetação de um campo de monchões – microrrelevos associados a cupins – na região de Cuiabá (MT). Unpublished Doctorate Thesis in Ecology, University of Campinas, Brazil.Google Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A. T., Shepherd, G. J., Martins, F. R. & Stubblebine, W. H. 1989. Environmental factors affecting physiognomic and floristic variation in an area of cerrado in central Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5:413431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A. T. & Furley, P. A. 1990. Monchão, cocuruto, murundu. Ciência Hoje 61:3037.Google Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A. T. & Martins, F. R. 1991. Comparative study of five cerrado areas in southern Mato Grosso, Brazil. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 48. (In press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pathak, A. N. & Lehri, L. K. 1959. Studies on termite nests I. Chemical, physical and biological characteristics of a termitarium in relation to its surroundings. Journal of the Indian Scoiety of Soil Science 7:8790.Google Scholar
Penteado-Orellana, M. M. 1980. Microrrelevos associados a térmitas no cerrado. Notícias Geomorfológicas 21:6171.Google Scholar
Pomeroy, D. E. 1983. Some effects of mound-building termites on the soils of a semi-arid area of Kenya. Journal of Soil Science 34:555570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prance, G. T. & Schaller, G. B. 1982. Preliminary study of some vegetation types of the Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Brittonia 34:228251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pullan, R. A. 1979. Termite hills in Africa: their characteristics and evolution. Catena 6:267291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratter, J. A. 1987. Notes on the vegetation of the Parque Nacional do Araguaia (Brazil). Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 44:311342.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A., Richards, P. W., Argent, G. & Gifford, D. R. 1973. Observations on the vegetation of northeastern Mato-Grosso I. The woody vegetation types of the Xavantina-Cachimbo Expedition area. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences 266:449492.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A., Pott, A., Pott, V. J. & Cunha, C. N. 1989. Observations on woody vegetation types in the Pantanal and at Corumba, Brazil. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 45:503525.Google Scholar
Ripley, B. D. 1977. Modelling spatial patterns (with discussion). Journal of the Royal Statistic Society 39:172212.Google Scholar
Tröll, C. 1936. ‘Termitcnsavannen’. Pp. 275313 in Louis, H. & Panzer, W. (eds). Länderkundliche Forschung Festschrift für Norbert Krebs. J. Engelhorns Nachf., Stuttgart.Google Scholar