[Terrapreta] termites

[gordon eliott]

hi there all you soil philosophers!

i`ve been a-lurking on your site for a few days and i am convinced that
adding char to soil is a fascinating and worthwhile project.

but it does seem to me that you are all ignoring one of the big players in
soil and climate matters - TERMITES.

there are some 4 billion tons of them. 700 kg of termites for every human on
the planet. in terms of carbon churn and methane flatus - big numbers.
they eat everything cellulose. often even living plant tissues.
BUT their most important effect is on the soil structure; hard poor soils
with no carbon material and nearly zero water retention capacity. when it
rains in such areas the water rushes away rapidly and then it is baking dry
again. there is erosion and the flushing out of nutrients to the sea.
the presence of termites across vast swathes of savanna creates a climate
that is more severe. there is less humidity in the air, more violent
rainstorms, less frequent rain.
and the type of plants that do manage to survive in termite areas are those
which devote a great deal of energy to producing anti termite toxins.
acacias and all types of magnificent mahogany tress all derive from the
selective pressure to avoid being gobbled up by termites. biodiversity is
curtailed.
anyone wishing to explore the influence of termites in the very grandest
sweep of evolutionary theory could look for the writings of charles weber.

the point is that not everything natural is necessarily good and wholesome.
just because termites have been degrading their environment for hundreds of
millions of years does not mean that their influence is desirable. termites
do not like the cold. if they did, perhaps the soils of the temperate zones
would be as poor as tropical soils.

there does exist a machine which will get rid of termites and deliver
them  as a profitable food material. the gully emptier. a vacuum tank on a
truck which has a big proboscis to suck up the stones and leaves and car
keys that end up in the sumps of roadside drains. a valve is opened
and instant winds of 140mph suck everything into the vacuum tank.

the biomass per sq km of termites is often far greater than any other
animal.
let me propose a scheme to take a few hundred square miles of very
unproductive savanna land with heavy populations of termites and to suck
these termites out of their nests and to feed them to chickens. all that
would need to be done would be to drill a hole into the centre of each
termite mound, insert the hose and suck hard for a few seconds.
 the chickens would certainly be very happy. any remaining termites would
probably succumb to predatory ant attack.
given time, with very few termites around, the natural vegetation in the
area would flourish and this could be carbonised and buried along with the
chicken shit.
given time the climate in that area would become better and more gentle
(for the same reason that the climate in amazonia is said to be becoming
worse due to logging).
given time, the short term profits from chicken ranching could subsidize the
creation of a garden of eden where good soils and frequent rain permit all
sorts of delicious things to be grown..

best wishes to all
gordon eliott
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