ABSTRACT:

Termites engage in strange activities that have a significant impact on soil ecology. Within the University ofAbuja community, a study was piloted to evaluate the chemical, physical, and some hydrologicalcharacteristics of termite mounds. Five different areas with visible termite mounds were identified and georeferencedusing a GPS device. An auger was used to sample termite mounds from the top of each of thesepreviously noted locations at a 10 cm depth. Similarly, control soil was sampled at a distance of 1.5 m fromeach termite mound. From each point, three (3) samples were taken to form a composite sample. Subsampledsoils (1 kg) were prepared, air dried, and used to assess the particle size distribution, hydrological, andchemical parameters. The generated data was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using thestatistical application Minitab 17. The Fisher LSD Method was employed to compare pairwise means at a0.05 level of significance. Across locations, the particle size and other parameters assessed did not differsignificantly. The presence of termite mounds significantly affected the grain size distribution andhydrological parameters. The mean clay content of termite mound soil was significantly higher than that ofadjacent soils. The permanent wilting point (PWP) of 14.06%, field capacity (FC) of 22.46%, and availablewater of 0.09 were significantly higher in termite mound soil than in adjacent soils, which had 11.12%,18.06%, and 0.07, respectively. Combining termite mound soils with other soils can help stabilize the soil’sstructure and help it retain moisture, which increases the amount of water and nutrients that are accessiblefor crop growth.