Termites | Litchfield National Park

Termites of Litchfield – “Architects of the outback’, ‘Top End Cows’, White Ants’, ‘You little bastards’ … are some of the names which Termites have been called.

Regardless of what you might think of them they are an incredibly important animal and KEY to the continued balance and environmental functioning of most Top End ecosystems.

Between the 250 or so different species found in the NT they perform a number of essential services for the environment and humans.

Firstly they are the primary decomposer of organic material such as leaf, wood, detritus etc. By breaking this down they then provide nutrients for further plant growth. In the very poor soils of the Top End this is a major plus.

Termites also sacrifice themselves (unwittingly as it is) for the greater good and provide a massive injection of protein into the food web at a time of the year when many creatures are both very hungry and looking to stock up to have a family. For many new kings and queens there reign is over before it begins.

Of course there is also the influence on ground water which can not be overstated. With the majority of termites living in the ground, creating holes, tunnels and macro pores they effectively increase the porosity of the soil to the point that they have in some place been responsible for up to 30% of the water that goes into the ground water … pretty important when everything runs on ground water for 7 months in the Top End. Given there are around 250 different species in the NT they are quite a common site but none more so than the Cathedral Termites and the Magnetic Termites.