Termite and pangolin abundance measurements
To quantify the termite abundance in situ , we sampled the
termites in the experimental plots of PT and TT in July 2018 and July
2019 adopting the (2000) transects method
(Jones & Eggleton 2000). Since the
area of our plots was 30 x 20 m, we took our entire plot as belt
transect, divided into ten 3 x 2 m sections. In each section we counted
the number of termites with an area meter (with 10 x 10 cm grid), based
on counts of 1 x 1cm grid cells across the diagonal. We scaled these
data up to the plot and also examined all deadwood and leaf litter for
termites to obtain total termite abundance of each plot. See above for
termite counts in the harvested deadwood samples.
We determined the density of pangolins in PT by counting their mounds in
each incubation plot, simultaneously, in three nearby plots of the same
area but without wood samples.
Calculation of wood mass loss
rate
Wood litter mass loss rate % was calculated according to Eqn. 1: