Entomology and Parasitology Lab, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Science, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Lahore, Defence Road Campus, Lahore, 54792, Pakistan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Oct;29(48):72480-72492. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-20899-3. Epub 2022 May 24.
Termite infestation is one of the fundamental problems associated with the loss of urban trees and ecological services. However, no such study has been performed in Pakistan to investigate the termite occurrence and assess such damages to urban trees caused by termites. For Lahore, research and comparable data on urban tree damages are rare or missing. This study surveyed six different microhabitats, including Bagh-e-Jinnah, canal vegetation, Model Town Park, Jallo Forestry, Race-Course Park, and FC College Vegetation employing the three belt transects (100 × 5 m) method. We geo-referenced termite-infested trees to investigate the termite occurrence on living and dead standing trees, termite diversity, and the assessment of tree damage by termites' attack. We recorded four termite species (Odontotermes obesus Rambur, Coptotermes heimi Wasmann, Heterotermes indicola Wasmann, and Microtermes obesi Holmgren) representing two families (Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae). However, the diversity indices revealed that O. obesus (higher termite) and C. heimi (lower termite) were dominant with 46.60 and 36% of occurrence among observed trees, respectively. Kernel density function indicated that the Lahore Canal and Bagh-e-Jinnah plantation shared all four termites' infestation evenly compared to other study sites. We observed the maximum number of damaged trees by termites in canal vegetation with the most damaged exotic tree species Populus euramericana along the canal green belt. Additionally, we observed significant (P < 0.05) termite-tree interactions with exotic, living, and dead standing tree species and found termite colony size positively (R = 0.985) correlated with the tree trunk diameter up to breast height (DBH). The average population of termites per unit volume of deadwood log was (0.39/cm) within all plantation sites. In conclusion, this study provides simple, reckless, and inexpensive knowledge about the assessment of termite damage to trees, which may give a better idea in making decisions on tree selection and management in urban ecosystems.
白蚁侵扰是城市树木和生态服务丧失的根本问题之一。然而，巴基斯坦尚未开展任何研究来调查白蚁的发生情况，并评估白蚁对城市树木造成的这种损害。对于拉合尔来说，关于城市树木损害的研究和可比数据很少或缺失。本研究调查了六个不同的微生境，包括真纳花园、运河植被、模范镇公园、Jallo 林业、赛马场公园和 FC 学院植被，采用了三条带样线（100×5m）方法。我们对受白蚁侵害的树木进行了地理参考，以调查活立木和枯立木上的白蚁发生情况、白蚁多样性以及白蚁攻击造成的树木损害评估。我们记录了四种白蚁物种（Odontotermes obesus Rambur、Coptotermes heimi Wasmann、Heterotermes indicola Wasmann 和 Microtermes obesi Holmgren），代表两个科（Rhinotermitidae 和 Termitidae）。然而，多样性指数表明，O. obesus（高等白蚁）和 C. heimi（低等白蚁）是优势种，分别占观察到的树木中的 46.60%和 36%。核密度函数表明，与其他研究地点相比，拉合尔运河和真纳花园种植区均匀地分布着所有四种白蚁的侵扰。我们在运河植被中观察到最多的白蚁侵害树木，运河绿化带中沿边生长的外来树种欧美杨（Populus euramericana）受损最为严重。此外，我们观察到了与外来种、活立木和枯立木树种的显著（P<0.05）白蚁-树木相互作用，并且发现白蚁蚁群的大小与树干胸径（DBH）呈正相关（R=0.985）。在所有种植区，每单位体积枯木原木中的白蚁种群数量平均为（0.39/cm）。总之，本研究提供了关于树木白蚁损害评估的简单、鲁莽且廉价的知识，这可能有助于在城市生态系统中做出树木选择和管理决策。
