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Abstract
To estimate the rate of consumption of leaf litter by termites on the forest floor
of Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, West Malaysia, newly fallen leaves were
marked and distributed on the ground. The loss of leaf area due to termites was determined
either photometrically or visually. An average of 1.70% of the total surface area
of the leaf litter disappeared per week in experiment 1 and 1.25% in experiment 2
in Plot 1, and 2.9% per day in other plots located near the mounds of Macrotermes
carbonarius. The amount of leaf litter accumulation in the Ao layer was estimated
at about 2.3 t/ha at Plot 1, so it was likely that an amount equivalent to about 32%
of the daily leaf-litter fall was transported by M. carbonarius to their mounds in
experiment 1 and 22% in experiment 2. It was considered that the termites had an important
role in the detritus food chain of the ecosystem.