Nivaarani Arumugam (2011) The diverstiy of termite fauna (order: isoptera) at Mahua, Crocker Range Park, Sabah. Universiti Malaysia Sabah. (Unpublished)
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Abstract
This research was carried out to determine the termite diversity and abundance at Mahua. A pictorial identification key was developed for termite fauna for general use and non-taxonomist. Mahua is a primary forest that located at Crocker Range Park, Sabah. A standardised belt transect (100m x 2m) is used for termite sampling. Three transects were run around the area of Mahua. A total of 19 species from 15 genera were collected in this study. The termite species comprises of family Rhinotermitidae (three species, two genera) and Termitidae (16 species, 13 genera). Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index shows higher termite diversity at Mahua. There were also more evenness among the termite species in the area. Relative abundance of termite species at Mahua was 150. Sub-family Termitinae was the sub-family with higher diversity (ten species) and abundance (107 hits) collected in this study. Species Pericapritermes dolichocephalus (John) found abundant at Mahua with 44 hits. There were also some rare species like Hirtitermes spinocephalus (Oshima), Nasutitermes neoparvus Thapa and Pericapritermes paraspeciosus Thapa, which found only once or twice at Mahua. Moreover, wood-feeders and hypogeal nest-builders dominated the termite assemblages. This feeders play an important role in the wood decomposition process in the forest. Identified termite species from previous study were also included in this study in order to construct the pictorial identification key. Cluster analysis was done for these termites. A pictorial identification key was constructed for 26 termite species using soldier morphology that were identified from cluster analysis. There were twelve new records of termite species for Mahua recorded in this study. Hence, the termite species list of Mahua is updated through this study. Termites play an important role in ecosystem of Mahua. Further research need to be done to identify factor that influence the abundance of termites at Mahua.
| Item Type: | Academic Exercise |
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| Keyword: | termite, diversity, Mahua forest, ecosystem |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301-705.5 Biology (General) |
| Department: | SCHOOL > School of Science and Technology |
| Depositing User: | ADMIN ADMIN |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2016 09:53 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2017 11:13 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/13236 |
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