Land-use diversity within an agricultural landscape promotes termite nutrient cycling services in a southern African savanna

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dc.contributor.authorLeClare, Shelby K.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMdluli, Mondayen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorWisely, Samantha M.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStevens, Nicolaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-10T07:12:00Z
dc.date.available2022-08-10T07:12:00Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.descriptionCITATION: LeClare, S. K. et al. 2020. Land-use diversity within an agricultural landscape promotes termite nutrient cycling services in a southern African savanna. Global Ecology and Conservation, 21. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00885
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/global-ecology-and-conservation
dc.description.abstractSoil macrofauna provide key supporting ecosystem services by transporting nutrients against physical and chemical gradients. In the semi-arid savannas of southern Africa, termites are the dominant macrofauna whose foraging activities increase nutrient availability, soil aeration and water infiltration. With increasing land-use conversion, savanna landscapes are becoming surrounded by a matrix of agricultural landscapes. We tested how compositional and configurational landscape heterogeneity influenced the presence of soil sheetings, a termite foraging activity, within savanna habitat patches embedded in a heterogeneous agricultural landscape in north-east Eswatini. We found that landscape heterogeneity most strongly influenced termite foraging activity at smaller spatial scales (1- to 2-km surrounding the savanna patch). Within this spatial scale, high compositional heterogeneity, which was indicative of diverse habitat patches, promoted termite foraging activity, yet high configurational heterogeneity, indicative of a fragmented landscape, reduced termite foraging activity. At larger landscape scales (5-km), the heterogeneity of the landscape no longer influenced termite foraging activity, yet low to moderate proportions of sugarcane surrounding savanna patches promoted termite foraging activity within those patches. Our results provide novel insights in how the structure of the landscape affects termite foraging activity, demonstrating that diverse, intact landscapes are a critical buffer in maintaining positive nutrient cycling services within an agricultural landscape.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419304408
dc.description.versionPublishers version
dc.format.extent9 pages : illustrations, mapsen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationLeClare, S. K. et al. 2020. Land-use diversity within an agricultural landscape promotes termite nutrient cycling services in a southern African savanna. Global Ecology and Conservation, 21. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00885
dc.identifier.issn2351-9894 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00885
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/125590
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.rights.holderElsevier
dc.subjectEcosystem services -- Savannas -- Africa, Southernen_ZA
dc.subjectNutrient cyclingen_ZA
dc.subjectLandscape heterogeneityen_ZA
dc.subjectLand-use changeen_ZA
dc.subjectTermite foraging activityen_ZA
dc.subjectNutrient cycles -- Savannas -- Africa, Southernen_ZA
dc.subjectAgricultural landscape managementen_ZA
dc.titleLand-use diversity within an agricultural landscape promotes termite nutrient cycling services in a southern African savannaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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