The neglected contribution of mound-building termites on CH4 emissions in Brazilian pastures

Abstract

Based on previous reports, our study aimed to obtain the first estimate on the contribution of termite mounds to CH 4 emissions in Brazilian Cerrado pastures. We estimated that termite mounds occupy an area larger than 200,000 ha in degraded pastures, an important loss of grazing area considering the current scenario of land-use change of pastures to other crops in Brazil. Moreover, mound-building termites in degraded pastures may be responsible for CH 4 emissions greater than 11 Mt CO 2 eq. yr −1 , which would notably affect the greenhouse gases (GHG) balance of grass-fed cattle production in Brazil. In this sense, it is urgent to conduct field-scale studies about the CH 4 emissions by mound-building termites in pastures and its contribution to the C footprint of Brazilian beef.

Spatial distribution patterns and structure of epigeal nests of soldierless termites in livestock systems in the northwestern Colombian Amazon

“…Generally, the presence of numerous termite mounds has been observed in these pastures (de Oliveira et al 2011), generating positive impacts on their maintenance by creating nutrient-rich patches and increasing nutrient availability (Jouquet et al 2005). As such, the implementation of pastures for livestock production leads to an increase in mound density (Lima et al 2011) due to the homogeneity of the environment and the absence of competitors (Oliveira et al 2021;Lima et al 2015). Soil-feeding termites are the main builders of epigeal nests (de Oliveira et al 2011;Bourguignon et al 2016a) and their mound-building activity plays a crucial role in soil bioturbation (Jones and Eggleton 2011).…”