Abstract
Samples of earthern runways of Psammotermes hybostoma Desneux and adjacent soils collected from the Central, Eastern and Western regions of Saudi Arabia were analyzed and compared to determine how termites changed the chemical composition of soils from which their constructions were derived. A general increase in the organic matter content, total soluble salts, soluble cations and anions was observed in runways rather than in the surrounding soils. Calcium carbonate and pH did not follow a definite trend. When compared as relative percentages, cations and anions in soil samples of the three regions showed much variation both in their means and ranges. In runways of the same regions and through the activity of termites, the relative percentages of cations and anions became more or less uniform; the wide ranges were obviously narrowed and the markedly different means became very close to each other or almost equal.