Diversity, Relative Abundance and Distribution of  Termite Taxa in Bahir Dar Area, Northwestern  Ethiopia

Desalegn, Nega

dc.contributor.author	Desalegn, Nega
dc.date.accessioned	2022-09-21T07:43:09Z
dc.date.available	2022-09-21T07:43:09Z
dc.date.issued	2017-08
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/14226
dc.description.abstract	Knowledge of the diversity and occurrence of termites is a spring-board for environmental management but the diversity and occurrence of termites is unknown not only in Bahir Dar but also in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to identify termite taxa and determine the diversity and distribution of termites at different habitats in Bahir Dar area. Data were collected for eight months starting from December 2016 to July 2017. Termites were collected from their natural habitats using maize stalks as baits. The results showed that a total of over 16,000 termite individuals which consists of one family (Termitidae), two subfamilies, i.e. (Macrotermitinae and Termitinae), five genera (Macrotermes, Odontotermes, Microtermes, Amitermes and Microcerotermes) were found. Microtermes followed by Macroterme had more termite individuals than other genera. Microcerotermes were rare while Macrotermitinae were more abundant. Shannon’s diversity index and Simpson's index of diversity values appeared to be higher in the protected vegetation. The distribution of termites in the different habitats showed that protected vegetation had higher number of genera (five genera), followed by grass and cultivated lands (four genera) each. Termite Populations were significantly higher during the rainy season. The genus Odontoterme occurred more during the dry season than the wet, indicating its foraging behavior on dry ground. Seasons, habitats and weather variables were the main factors guiding the distribution and abundance of termites in the study area.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.title	Diversity, Relative Abundance and Distribution of Termite Taxa in Bahir Dar Area, Northwestern Ethiopia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US