Importance of protected areas for biodiversity conservation :

To show the impact of human activity on biodiversity in humid equatorial region, termites, insects recognized as bio-indicators of climate change in the tropics were studied in two habitats: The National Center for Floristic (CNF), a preserved habitat for 51 years and the Campus of Cocody (CC), a strongly anthropic environment. Termites were sampled using a standardized method designed for rapid assessment of termite. In both areas, 18 species were collected, 17 species in CNF and 7 species in the Campus area. Significant change in diversity was found between the CNF and the Campus area. In addition, the relative abundance of termites showed a significantly greater decline in the Campus area. The highest abundance of termites was obtained in the CNF (2.95 ind./sections) unlike the Campus area where the relative abundance was 1.55 ind./section. Shannon and Simpson diversity index recorded in the CNF was higher than those of the Campus area. The low similarity index calculated (0.38) showed that these two areas were strongly different. The soil feeders seem to be the most sensitive group to human activities. The CNF preserved of human activities allowed reconstituting different species of termite colonies, unlike the Campus area which still subject to strong anthropogenic activities.