Paper short abstract:

Frequent land search for cash crops in savannah zones of Côte d'Ivoire has a significant impact on the quality of ecosystems and their soils. Ecosystem engineers, whose roles are no longer to be demonstrated, can provide a solution for sustainable agriculture, in line with the potential of soil.

Paper long abstract:

The ecosystems engineers are considered as a prime resource of agroecosystems because they regulate the soil biological process. Among them, earthworms and soil-feeding termites having common diet and similar roles on the soil structure and functioning have been studied. The work was focused on the influence of the nest of Cubitermes subcrenulatus (Termitinae; Termitidae) on the distribution of earthworm communities in the humid savannas of the Lamto reserve (central Côte d’Ivoire). In total, 15 living nests of Cubitermes subcrenulatus remote the one of the other of 200 m have been identified randomly in a forest island using the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility monoliths’ method around Cubitermes nests. Eight species of earthworms were collected around Cubitermes nests, with dominance and high observation frequency of subterranean earthworms. Earthworms and termites have opposite distributions in the soil with increasing distance from the Cubitermes nest. The presence of Cubitermes subcrenulatus nests impacts the vertical and horizontal distribution of earthworms. Despite the presence of Cubitermes subcrenulatus nests, the respective ecological niches of the earthworms change while maintaining the coexistence with the termites.

Key words: Termites, Earthworms, Ecological niche, Soil, Savannah, Côte d’Ivoire