Termite mounds as hot spots of nitrous oxide emissions in South‐Sudanian savanna of Burkina Faso (West Africa)

Despite a considerable knowledge of the significant role of termites in the global methane budget, very little is known about their contribution to the global nitrous oxide (N2O) budget. Release of N2O from termite (Cubitermes fungifaber) mounds was measured at a natural savanna site in the southwest of Burkina Faso from May to September 2006. Termite N2O emissions were around 20 μg N2O‐N m–2 h–1 at the end of the dry season, and up to two orders of magnitude higher than N2O emissions from the surrounding termite‐free soil after the onset of the rainy season. The average N2O emission rate from termite mounds during the observation period was 204 μg N2O‐N m–2 h–1, and termite mounds contributed 3.0% to total N2O emissions from this savanna ecosystem. However, in other tropical terrestrial ecosystems with other termite species and/or higher termite density this share might be significantly higher.