| Litter and soil termites were collected with soil cores (21cm diameter) in a primary forest site, a secondary forest site and two sites of a polyculture plantation system in central Amazonia (Brazil), in three-monthly intervals from 1997 to 1999. Termite genus diversity, abundance and biomass all were highest in the primary forest. The values in the secondary forest were half those of the primary forest, and they were lowest in the plantation systems, indicating that the latter sites may suffer from functional constraints concerning the process of organic residue decomposition. |
