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Söderlund, Sara, 2013. Ants and termites in small-scale plantain farms in Uganda : a comparison between agroforestry and non-agroforestry farms. First cycle, G2E. Uppsala: SLU, Dept. of Ecology

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Abstract

This study was conducted in Kkingo district, west of Masaka, Uganda. It compared soil macrofauna abundance in non-agroforestry farms with that of agroforestry farms. The agroforestry farms had participated in the Vi Agroforestry´s program between 1995 and 2006, and continued on their own after 2006, when Vi Agroforestry left the area. The soil macrofauna is important for soil structure and processes that are contributing to soil organ-ic matter decomposition and nutrient mineralization. They are also predators of potential pests. The soil macrofauna generally thrives in more complex and undisturbed systems, hence, the study hypothesis was that the abundance of the studied macrofauna groups would be larger in agroforestry systems compared to non-agroforestry systems. The sampling of macrofauna was made using monoliths (25 cm x 25 cm x 20 cm), Sampling occurred at 5 farms per farming system, totally 10 farms. At each farm, two samples were taken at each of the three sampling sites. Termites were typed to subfamilies and ants were typed to genus, with expert help at Makerere University, Kampala. Earthworms, millipedes, centipedes and woodlice were counted but not typed. An ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference in ant abundance (P-value 0.023) between the different sampling sites, with more ants at the most fertile parts of the farms compared to at the middle of the field (P-value 0.031).

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Den här studien utfördes i Kkingo distrikt, väster om staden Masaka i Uganda. Det var en jämförelse mellan förekomsten av makrofauna i marken på agroforestry- och icke-agroforestrygårdar. Agroforestrygårdarna hade deltagit i Vi-Skogens projekt 1995 till 2006, och därefter fortsatt på egen hand. Makrofaunan är en viktig komponent i marken och deras aktiviteter skapar markstruktur som bidrar till omsättning av markens organiska material och växtnäring. De kan även agera som naturliga fiender mot potentiella skadegörare. De trivs oftast i mer komplexa och ostörda system, därför var hypotesen i studien att det skulle finnas ett större antal individer av de studerade djurgrupperna i agroforestrysystemen. Insamlingen av makrofauna utfördes med monoliter (25 cm x 25 cm x 20 cm). Prover samlades in på totalt 10 gårdar, 5 per system. På varje gård valdes tre insamlingsplatser in och på varje plats togs två prover. Termiterna bestämdes till underfamiljer och myrorna till släkte, med hjälp av expertkunskap på Makerere University i Kampala. Daggmaskar, tusenfotingar, enkelfotingar och gråsuggor räknades men bestämdes inte till lägre systematisk nivå. En ANOVA visade att det var en signifikant skillnad (P-värde 0.023) på antal myror mellan de olika insamlingsplatserna, med fler myror där marken var som mest bördig eller gödslad jämfört med på mitten av fältet (P-värde 0.031).

Main title:Ants and termites in small-scale plantain farms in Uganda
Subtitle:a comparison between agroforestry and non-agroforestry farms
Authors:Söderlund, Sara
Supervisor:Lagerlöf, Jan
Examiner:Jonsson, Mattias
Series:Självständigt arbete/Examensarbete / SLU, Institutionen för ekologi
Volume/Sequential designation:2013:13
Year of Publication:2013
Level and depth descriptor:First cycle, G2E
Student's programme affiliation:NY003 Agricultural Programme - Soil/Plant 270 HEC
Supervising department:(NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology
Keywords:agroforestry, small-scale farmers, Uganda, macrofauna, ants, termites
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-2711
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-2711
Subject. Use of subject categories until 2023-04-30.:Animal ecology
Language:English
Deposited On:16 Sep 2013 08:38
Metadata Last Modified:16 Sep 2013 08:38

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