Skip to main content
Log in

Lenticular soil mounds in the Kenya highlands

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Soil mounds in moist grassland at moderate altitudes in the Kenya Highlands have recently been interpreted as being formed by burrowing molerats. Evidence is presented here that these mounds contain active nests of Odontotermes spp. and are likely to have been built by the termites.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bodot P (1971) L'evolution de la faune de termites dans les savanes de Basse Cote-d'Ivoire. Ann Univ Abidjan, sér E Ecologie 4:195–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouillon A, Kidieri S (1964) Repartition des termitieres de Bellicositermes bellicosus rex dans I'Ubangi d'apres les photos aeriennes. Correlations écologiques qu'elle revele. In: Etudes sur les Termites africains. Ed A Bouillon Leopoldville: 373–377

  • Boyer P (1956) Action des termites constructeurs sur certains sols d'Afrique tropicale. Sixième Congres de la Science du Sol, Paris 3:95–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Burtt BD (1942) Some East African vegetation communities. J Ecol 30:65–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins NM (1979) The nests of Macrotermes bellicosus (Smeathman) from Mokwa, Nigeria. Insectes Sociaux 26:240–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox GW (1984) Mounds of mystery. Natural History 93:36–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox GW, Gakahu CG (1983) Mima mounds in the Kenya highlands: significance for the Dalquest-Scheffer hypothesis. Oecologia (Berlin) 57:68–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalquest WW, Scheffer VB (1942) The origin of the Mima mounds of western Washington. J Geol 50:68–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Darlington JPEC (1982) The underground passages and storage pits used in foraging by a nest of the termite Macrotermes michaelseni in Kajiado, Kenya. J Zool Lond 198:237–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Darlington JPEC (1985) Two types of mound built by the termite Macrotermes subhyalinus in Kenya. Insect Sci Application

  • Darlington JPEC (in press a) Multiple primary reproductives in the termite Macrotermes michaelseni (Sjöstedt)

  • Darlington JPEC (in press b) The structure of mature mounds of the termite Macrotermes michaelseni in Kenya. Insect Sci Application

  • Fuller C (1915) Observations on some South African termites. Ann Natal Mus 3:329–504

    Google Scholar 

  • Gakahu CG, Cox GW (1984) The occurence and origin of Mima mound terrain in Kenya. Afr J Ecol 22:31–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Glover PE, Trump EC, Wateridge LED (1964) Termitaria and vegetation patterns on the Loita Plains of Kenya. J Ecol 52:367–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Grasse PP, Noirot C (1950) Documents sur la biologie de l'Odontotermes magdalenae n. sp. Ann Sci Nat Zool Biol Animale 12:117–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartwig EK (1966) The nest and control of Odontotermes latericius (Haviland) (Termitidae: Isoptera). S Afr J Agric Sci 9:407–417

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesse PR (1955) Chemical and physical study of the soils of termite mounds in East Africa. J Ecol 43:449–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson D, Strömquist L (1977) Termite mounds near Dodoma, Central Tanzania. Svensk Geogradisk Arsbok 53:103–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp PB (1955) The termites of North-Eastern Tanganyika: their distribution and biology. Bull Entom Res 46:113–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Lepage MG (1972) Recherches ecologiques sur une savane sahelienne du ferlo septentrionale, Senegal: Donnees preliminaires sur l'ecologie des termites. La Terre et al Vie 26:383–409

    Google Scholar 

  • Michelmore APG (1939) Observations on tropical African grasslands. J Ecol 27:282–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Mielke HW (1978) Termitaria and shifting cultivation: the dynamic role of the termite in soils of tropical wet-dry Africa. Tropical Ecology 19:117–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Noirot C (1970) The nests of termites. In: Krishna K, Weesner FM (eds) Biology of Termites, vol II. Academic Press, London New York: 73–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Ojani FF (1968) The mound topography of the Thika and Athi Plains of Kenya: A problem of origin. Erdkunde 22:269–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy DE (1977) The distribution and abundance of large termite mounds in Uganda. J Appl Ecol 14:465–475

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy DE (1983) Distribution and abundance of large termite mounds in a semi-arid area of southern Kenya. Kenya Journal of Science and Technology B 4:77–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruelle JE (1964) L'architecture du nid de Macrotermes natalensis et son sens functionel. In: Bouillon A (ed) Etudes sur les Termites africains. Leopoldville:327–352

  • Stephen I, Bellis E, Muir A (1956) Gilgai phenomena in tropical black clays of Kenya. J Soil Sci 7:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas AS (1941) The vegetation of the Sese Islands, Uganda. J Ecol 29:330–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Troll C (1936) Termiten-savannen. Studien zur Vegetations- und Landschaftskunde der Tropen. II. Länderkundliche Forschung, Festschrift für Norbert Krebs. Stuttgart: 275–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Vesey-Fitzgerald (1963) Central African grasslands. J Ecol 51:243–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanyonyi K, Darlington JPEC, Bagine RKN (in press) Checklist of the species of termites (Isoptera) recorded from East Africa. Journal East African Natural History Society and National Museum

  • Watson JP (1967) A termite mound in an iron-age burial ground in Rhodesia. J Ecol 55:663–669

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonneveld IS, Leeuw PN, Sombroek WG (1971) An ecological interpretation of aerial photographs in a savanna region in Northern Nigeria. Publ Int Inst Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences, Enschede — the Netherlands B 63:1–41

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Darlington, J.P.E.C. Lenticular soil mounds in the Kenya highlands. Oecologia 66, 116–121 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378562

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00378562

Keywords

Navigation