Abundance and microhabitat use of rodent species in crop fields and bushland in Ethiopia

Title:

Abundance and microhabitat use of rodent species in crop fields and bushland in Ethiopia

Creator:

Welegerima, Kiros, Meheretu, Yonas, Haileselassie, Tsegazeabe H., Gebre, Brhane, Kidane, Dawit, Massawe, Apia W., Mbije, Nsajigwa E., and Makundi, Rhodes H.

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:5d6c86fc-402d-465d-abd7-4a1de13ce09b
uuid:5d6c86fc-402d-465d-abd7-4a1de13ce09b
doi:10.25225/jvb.20054

Subject:

small mammals, pest species, ground cover, pest management, and Tigray

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

počítač and online zdroj

Description:

The abundance and microhabitat use of rodents were investigated in four different habitats: two rain-fed crop fields with differing stone bund density, an irrigated field and bushland. A total of 444 individual small mammals belonging to six rodent and one shrew species were recorded in trapping grids and line transects. Of these, 230 individuals (52%) belonged to three pest rodent species of crop fields in northern Ethiopia: Stenocephalemys albipes (65%), Mastomys awashensis (25%) and Arvicanthis niloticus (10%). Population abundance of the three species was higher in the early dry season compared to the rainy season. While the bushland was significantly (p < 0.05) favoured by S. albipes and M. awashensis in both seasons, the irrigated field was preferred by Arvicanthis niloticus in the early dry season. In the early dry season, the microhabitat use of A. niloticus was strongly associated with the type of ground cover (herb) (R2adj = 0.152, P < 0.01). While M. awashensis was associated with vegetation density (R2adj = 0.13, P < 0.01), S. albipes was associated with vegetation cover (R2adj = 0.102, P < 0.001). The findings indicate that co-occurring pest rodent species prefer different microhabitats. Understanding their co-occurrence particularly in crop fields is vital for crop protection as they are known serious agricultural pests in northern Ethiopia.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

1-12

Source:

Journal of Vertebrate Biology | 2020 Volume:69 | Number:2

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false