RT Journal
T1 ASSESSING POPULATION ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES FOR ODONTOTERMES TERMITES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN MULTAN, PAKISTAN
A1 Hafiza Tahira Gul
A1 Naeem Iqbal
A1 Shafqat Saeed
A1 Ishtiaq A. Rajwana
JF Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences
JO JAPS
SN 1018-7081
VO 36
IS 3
SP 921
OP 932
YR 2026
FD 2026/05/05
DO DOI https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2026.3.0075
AB <p>Termites are important soil dwelling insects known for their severe economic losses to agriculture, forestry, timber and construction sectors. Accurate estimation of termite colony population is critical for evaluating the efficacy of management strategies at a given site. Present study involved estimating the population of a fungus growing termite,&nbsp;<em>Odontotermes</em> spp. at three contrasting sites (urban, semi-urban, and agricultural areas) in District Multan, Pakistan. For this purpose, two contrasting techniques were applied: mark-recapture and constant removal methods (regression and maximum likelihood). The results indicated that mark-recapture yielded higher estimates at agriculture site (1851376) followed by urban (948153.45) and semi-urban site (737816.73). The constant removal technique yielded higher population estimates at semi-urban site (16932.36 by regression method and 10118.73 by maximum likelihood method) while the lowest estimates (9580.67-13670) were calculated at agriculture site by both constant removal methods. The findings will be helpful to explore population distribution pattern across different ecological zones and seasons, and study implications for termite management at different sites.</p>
K1 Constant removal estimate; fungus-growing termites, Odontotermes; population estimation; mark recapture; various habitats.
PB Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum
LK https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2025-JAPS-519