MEDEDELINGEN VAN DE STICHTING VOOR BODEMKARTERING BOOR en SPADE XII VERSPREIDE BIJDRAGEN TOT DE KENNIS VAN DE BODEM VAN NEDERLAND AUGER AND SPADE XII STICHTING VOOR BODEMKARTERING, WAGENINGEN DIRECTEUR: DR. IR. F. W. G. PIJLS Soil Survey Institute, Wageningen, Holland Director: Dr. Ir. F. W. G. Pijls 1962 H. VEENMAN & ZONEN N.V.-WAGENINGEN CONTENTS Page Introductory 1. VOORDE, P. K.J. VAN DER, Leaf-cutting ants and the soil profile in Surinam 1 2. VOORDE, P. K.J. VAN DER, Soil conditions of the Isla Macareo, Orinoco Delta, Venezuela 6 3. REYNDERS, J. J., A brief report on the occurrence of peat in Nether­ lands New Guinea 27 4. VINK, A. P. A., Observations and experiences with some soils in Indonesia 33 5. Roo, H. C. DE, Soil science in Connecticut, U.S.A 49 6. BURINGH, P., Irrigation sedimentation in the lower Mesopotamian plain 58 7. VINK, A. P. A., Some remarks on recent geological formations of Geographical Society Island (N. E. Greenland) 66 8. SMET, L. A. H. DE, Die Bodenbeschaffenheit des Tongebietes im östlichen Groningen 90 9. MAREL, H. W. VAN DER and J. M. M. VAN DEN BROEK, Calcium- magnesium and potassium-magnesium relations in loess soils of Limburg 103 10. BROEK, J. M. M.'VAN DEN and H. W. VAN DER MAREL, Morpholog­ ical and chemical characteristics of various soil types in the province of Limburg Ill 11. JONGERIUS, A. and L.J. PONS, Soil genesis in organic soils 156 12. HEUVELN, B. VAN, Organic B in high moor peat and high moor peat reclamation soils 169 13. JANTZEN, J. J., Preparation of coloured maps 178 List of publications of the Netherlands Soil Survey Institute . ... 182 v INHOUD Biz. Ter inleiding 1. VOORDE, P. K. J. VAN DER, Parasolmieren en hun invloed op het bo­ demprofiel in Suriname 1 2. VOORDE, P. K. J. VAN DER, De Bodemgesteldheid van Isla Macareo, Orinoco delta, Venezuela 6 3. REYNDERS, J. J., Een kort verslag betreffende het voorkomen van veen in Nederlands Nieuw Guinea 27 4. VINK, A. P. A., Waarnemingen en ervaringen betreffende enige gronden in Indonesië 33 5. Roo, H. C. DE, Bodemkundig onderzoek in Connecticut, U. S. A. 49 6. BURINGH, P., Sedimentatie door bevloeiing in de Beneden Mesopo­ tamische vlakte 58 7. VINK, A. P. A., Enige opmerkingen betreffende recent geologische formaties op Geographical Society Island (NO Groenland). ... 66 8. SMET, L. A. H. DE, De bodemgesteldheid van het kleigebied in het oostelijk deel van de provincie Groningen 90 9. MAREL, H. W. VAN DER en J. M. M. VAN DEN BROEK, Calcium- magnesium- en kalium-magnesium-verhoudingen in lössgronden in Limburg 103 10. BROEK, J. M. M. VAN DEN en H. W. VAN DER MAREL, Morfologi­ sche en chemische kenmerken van diverse bodemtypen in de pro­ vincie Limburg 111 11. JONGERIUS, A. en L. J. PONS, Bodemvorming in organische gronden. 156 12. HEUVELN, B. VAN, Organische B in hoogveen en hoogveenontgin- ningsgronden 169 13. JANTZEN, J. J., Voorbereiding van kleurenkaarten 178 vi INTRODUCTORY Although „Auger and Spade" has for its sub-title „Miscellaneous contribu­ tions to the knowledge of the soils of the Netherlands" the editor has thought it fit to publish a second volume with an international character, the reason being the fact that several former and also present soil scientists of the Netherlands Soil Survey Institute were or still are active in foreign countries, especially the Tropics and Subtropics. The editor is rejoiced that again an article on pedological research carried out in Netherlands New-Guinea can be published in this volume. The subjects mentioned in the articles 11 and 12 of this issue have more briefly also been treated in Commission V of the 7th International Congress of Soil Science at Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (Trans­ actions Vol. IV). TER INLEIDING Hoewel „Boor en Spade" als ondertitel heeft „Verspreide bijdragen tot de kennis van de bodem van Nederland", heeft de redactie toch gemeend een tweede internationaal georiënteerd deel te laten verschijnen. Aanleiding hiertoe is het feit, dat verschillende vroegere en ook huidige medewerkers van de Stichting voor Bodemkartering langere of kortere tijd in het buiten­ land, vooral in de Tropen en Subtropen, hebben gewerkt of nog werken. Het verheugt de redactie zeer, dat daarenboven in dit deel opnieuw iets gepubli­ ceerd kan worden over bodemkundig werk in Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea. De onderwerpen, beschreven in de artikelen 11 en 12 van deze uitgave, werden eveneens, zij het korter, behandeld in Commissie V van het 7de Internationaal Bodemkundig Congres te Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (Transactions Vol. IV). vir LEAF-CUTTING ANTS AND THE SOIL PROFILE IN SURINAM PARASOLMIEREN EN HUN INVLOED OP HET BODEMPROFIEL IN SURINAME by/door P. K. J. van der Voorde1) A certain family of ants, the Attinae, is limited to the tropical and subtropical parts of America. These ants utilise the leaves of different trees and shrubs to build up their fungus gardens. These gardens are laid out in a highly complex structure of cavities, and holes, sometimes 500-1000 separate cavities are formed in which a great mass of fungus is cultivated (fig. 1 ). The life habits of the ants and the kind of way they work the pieces of leaves into their fungus gardens have been investigated and described in great detail by Stahel and Geyskes (1938, 1939, 1940, 1943). For readers not acquainted with these matters a short review is given of the subject first. 1 1 1 mmwi '.li i'Ui , ii'iiv'iii ' iVjiv •;>' ••rrrT rn11•••' {'«Asmi / 1t I t * ' ùjmyMi iSlit! Jil Fig. 1. Cross-section of an ant-hill near Onverwacht. Right on top in the hill the termites nest with fungus gardens. To the left and right: cavities for water supply. In centre, cross-hatched: waste pit (Stahel und Geyskes, 1939). Doorsnede door een termietenheuvel bij Onverwacht. Rechts boven in de heuvel: het termietennest met schimmeltuinen. Links en rechts: holten voor watertoevoer. In het midden, gearceerd: afvalput. The two kinds of leaf-cutting ants occurring in Surinam are Atta sexdens and A. cephalotes. The first lives on open areas, not thickly covered by trees and shrubs, on drier soils of the interior of the country, where the ground­ water table is low in general. Atta cephalotes is found more in the coastal plains of Surinam, where the groundwater table is higher in general, but occurs scattered in the interior too, if the groundwater is more proximate. More forested areas, for shadow on the nest, are preferred. The faunatical differences between both species will not be mentioned now, nor the differences between soldiers, workers, cleaners etc. More im- 1) International Land Development Consultants, Arnhem, Netherlands. Formerly pedolo- gist of the Netherlands Soil Survey Institute. 1 portant are the differences between Atta cephalotes and A. sexdens regarding the methods of cutting the leaves and the method of nest-building. Ants of A. cephalotes of the lowland climb the three, cut the pieces of leaves and go down along the trunk of the tree with the piece of leaf held between their mandibles like a flag. Long distances, some tens of meters, the pieces of leaf are carried over cleaned paths to the nest (fig. 2 and 3). The A. sexdens of the interior likes maniok leaves mostly, cuts the leaf­ stalks on the plant so that the leaf drops on the ground. There it is divided by other ants into smaller pieces which are carried over short distances to entrancies of tunnels leading to the nest. These tunnels may be tens of me­ ters long. From these leaf-pieces, after thorough cleaning in the nest and even on the leaf-pieces when they are transported, the fungus gardens are build up. The interested reader should read the descriptions of all the measures taken by the ants to keep the gardens growing continuously, to keep them clean and to prevent the growth of an unwanted development of the fungus: Rosites gongylophora (Stahel, 1943). The protein and sugar-rich globular sponge-like structures in the fungus gardens represent the only food for the ants. The result of the leaf-cutting by Atta species may be disastereous to tropic­ al agriculture as the preference goes to leaves of maniok, vegetables, oranges, cocoa, mango etc. In fact the occurrence of Atta sexdens in the interior is one of the reasons, apart from exhaustion of the soil fertility by shifting agriculture, that the Amerindians and Bush negroes have to change their gardens so often. Destruction of the nests may be carried out by applying carbondisulphide or methylbromide to several entrances of the nest, while closing the remain­ der of the entrances. The death of the fungus means the end of the nest but the death of the ants must be controlled after some days, otherwise a second treatment must be carried out. As the ants need to dispose of the exhausted parts of the fungus gardens on one hand and have to keep these gardens moist on the other hand, beside the fungus-gardens cavities a number of subterranean cavities are dug-out to dispose their waste and nearly vertical tunnels are excavate to reach the groundwater. These cavities or tunnels may be more than 30 cm wide and more than one meter deep (fig. 1). Even in non-cohaerent sand the soil to be excavated in first apparently cemented in some way or another before the ants take the aggregates of 2-3 mm diameter in their mandibles. There are no appreciable differences in organic matter content between the undisturbed and the excavated soil. Yet the aggregates can withstand somewhat the impact of light showers.