Environmental Sustainability: A Review of Termite Mound Soil Material and Its Bacteria

Ben Jesuorsemwen Enagbonma and Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
Additional contact information
Ben Jesuorsemwen Enagbonma: Food Security and Safety Niche, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Mail Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa
Olubukola Oluranti Babalola: Food Security and Safety Niche, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Mail Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: The high quantity of nutrients accumulated in termite mound soils have placed termite mound as a ‘gold mine’ for bacteria concentrations. However, over the years, not much attention has been given to the bacteria present in termite mound soil. This is because many studies have focused on approaches to manage termites which they see as menace to agricultural crops and buildings. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the potential application of termite mound soil material and its bacteria for biotechnological purposes. This review has been grouped into four key parts: The termite mound as hotspot for bacterial concentration, the degradation of lignocellulose for biofuel production, termite mound soil as a soil amendment, and the role of termite mound soil and its bacteria in bioremediation and bio-filtration. Therefore, the effective usage of the termite mound soil material and its bacteria in an ecofriendly manner could ensure environmental sustainability.

Keywords: biofuel; bioremediation; heavy metal; healthy environment; soil nutrient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3847/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3847/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3847-:d:248413

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().