The neglected contribution of mound-building termites on CH 4 emissions in Brazilian pastures

ABSTRACT Based on previous reports, our study aimed to obtain the first estimate on the contribution of termite mounds to CH4 emissions in Brazilian Cerrado pastures. We estimated that termite mounds occupy an area larger than 200,000 ha in degraded pastures, an important loss of grazing area considering the current scenario of land-use change of pastures to other crops in Brazil. Moreover, mound-building termites in degraded pastures may be responsible for CH4 emissions greater than 11 Mt CO2 eq. yr−1, [...]