In central Cameroon, there are strongly defined savanna-forest boundaries. Imperata cylindrica, a pantropical Poaceae weed, is also one component of these savannas. There is a well-known discourse that I. cylindrica presence indicates poor soils and smallholder farmers report low crop establishment rates on land dominated by I. cylindrica. Yet, according to farmers one of the major limiting constraints is not soil fertility but seedling damage from birds, rodents and stem-cutting termites. It was hypothesised that losses might vary depending on both agronomic techniques used and vegetation management. In a two-factorial randomised complete block design, the effects of glyphosate herbicide clearance versus manual machete clearance and burning of plant residues versus mulching were assessed on Zea mays (maize) post-emergence seedling losses by birds, rodents and termites. Overall, birds caused greatest post-emergence losses in the first three weeks after planting (on average, 29%), followed by rodents (14%) and termites (11%). Glyphosate use significantly reduced seedling losses from birds (by 16%) suggesting that either birds avoided areas with lower vegetation cover or that such weedy vegetation is an attractant. For termites, glyphosate use significantly increased damage (13% damage in glyphosate plots compared with 8% in no-herbicide plots). Seedling damage by termites was greater in the burnt plots and where herbicide was applied. One compromise would be to avoid burning, so ensuring mulch cover to provide alternative food for termites, yet ensure vigorous weeding.

在喀麦隆中部，有严格定义的稀树草原-森林边界。圆叶禾本科杂草Imperata cylindrica也是这些稀树草原的组成部分。有一个著名的论述是白茅存在表明土地贫瘠，小农报告为主的土地上种植低利率建立白茅。然而，据农民说，主要的限制因素之一不是土壤肥力，而是鸟类，啮齿动物和切茎白蚁对幼苗的损害。假设损失可能因所使用的农艺技术和植被管理而异。在两因素随机完全区组设计中，在玉米上评估了草甘膦除草剂清除率与手动砍刀清除率以及植物残留物燃烧与覆盖率的影响。（玉米）出苗后鸟类，啮齿动物和白蚁造成的幼苗损失。总体而言，鸟类在播种后的前三周造成最大的出苗后损失（平均29％），其次是啮齿动物（14％）和白蚁（11％）。草甘膦的使用显着减少了鸟类的幼苗损失（减少了16％），表明鸟类避免了植被覆盖率较低的地区，或者这种杂草植被是引诱剂。对于白蚁，使用草甘膦会大大增加伤害（草甘膦地块的伤害为13％，非除草剂地块的伤害为8％）。在被烧土地和施用除草剂的地方，白蚁对幼苗的损害更大。一种折衷办法是避免燃烧，因此要确保覆盖覆盖物为白蚁提供替代食物，但要确保剧烈除草。