Termites and soils in a dryland environment

Sam Gandy from the James Hutton Institute will deliver this Aberdeen Entomological Club seminar entitled “Termites and soils in a dryland environment”. It will be held at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen (and screened to the Institute’s Dundee site).

Termites are known to be major ecosystem engineers, and occasionally keystone species, having a number of important influences on ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling and soil processing and formation. Termite community structure is known to change with land use type, and this, in turn, will have important implications for ecosystem processes. Using all available data, the speaker will discuss the first pan-African analysis of land use impacts on termite community structure across the whole of the African continent (totalling 27 studies and 111 individual sites).

The talk starts at 4pm with light refreshments available from 3.30pm.

For further information, please contact Jenni Stockan [1], Environmental & Biochemical Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK. Office: +44 (0)1224 395 239, or Jennifer Slater [2], Ecological Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA.