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Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia

Received: 16 April 2015     Accepted: 22 April 2015     Published: 6 May 2015
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Abstract

An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.

Published in American Journal of BioScience (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
Page(s) 87-92
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Species Composition, Abundance, Trap Success, Biomass, Rodents

References
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[3] Bekele, A. and Leirs, H. (1997). Population ecology of rodents of maize field and grassland in central Ethiopia. Belg. J. Zool. 127: 39-48.
[4] Andreo,V., Lima, M., Provensal, C., Priotto, J. and Polop, J. (2008). Population dynamics of two rodent species in agro-ecosystems of central Argentina: intra-specific competition, land-use, and climate effects. Pop. Ecol. 51: 297- 306.
[5] Auffray, J., Renaud, S. and Claudae, J. (2009). Rodent biodiversity, human health and pest control in a changing environments. Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.). 43: 83-90.
[6] Avenant, L. N. and Cavallini, P. (2007). Correlating rodent community structure with ecological integrity, Tussen-die-Riviere Nature Reserve, Free State Province, South. Integ. Zool. 2: 212-219.
[7] Boutin, S. (1990). Food supplementation experiments with terrestrial vertebrates: patterns, problems and the future. Can. J. Zool. 68: 203-220.
[8] Delany, M. J. and Monro, R.H. (1985). Movement and spatial distribution of the Nile rat in Kenya. J. Trop. Ecol. 1: 111-130.
[9] Delany, M. J. (1964). A study of the ecology and breeding of small mammals in Uganda. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 142: 347-370.
[10] Datiko, D., Bekele, A. and Beley, G. (2007). Feeding ecology of pest rodents from Arbaminch forest and farmlands, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci. 30: 127-134.
[11] Feldhamer, G. A., Drickamer, L. C., Vessey, S. H., Merritt, J. F. and Krajewski, C. (2007). Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity and Ecology, 3rd edn. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp. 643.
[12] Kindgon, J. (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. A & C Black Pulishers Ltd., London, pp. 476.
[13] Kasso, M.,Bekele, A. and Hemson, G. (2010). Species composition, abundance and habitat association of rodents and insectivores from Chilalo–Galama Mountain range, Arsi, Ethiopia. Afr. J. Ecol. 48: 1105-1114.
[14] Odhiambo, C. O. and Oguge, N. O. (2003). Patterns in rodent pest distribution in a Maize cropping system in the Kenyan Rift Valley. In: Rats, Mice and People: RodentBiology and Mangement, pp. 217-219, (Singleton, G. R, Hinds, L. A., Krebs, C. J., and Spratt, D. M., eds). Australian Center of International Agricultural Research, Canberra.
[15] Mengistu, S. andBekele, A. (2003). Geographic variation in the Ethiopian common Mole-rat (Tachyoryctessplendens) based on morphometry. Ethiop. J.Biol. Sci. 2: 73-89.
[16] Sidorowicz, J. (1960). Effect of the weather on the capture of Micromammalia, Rodentia. Bialowieza9: 139-157.
[17] Habtamu, T. andBekele, A.(2008). Habitat association of insectivores and rodents of Alatish National Park, northwestern Ethiopia. Trop. Ecol. 49: 1-10.
[18] Taylor, K. D. and Green, G. (1976). The influences of rainfall on diet and reproduction in four African rodent species. J. Zool., Lond. 180: 367-389.
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  • APA Style

    Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. (2015). Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. American Journal of BioScience, 3(3), 87-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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    ACS Style

    Yonas Terefe; Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am. J. BioScience 2015, 3(3), 87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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    AMA Style

    Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am J BioScience. 2015;3(3):87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14,
      author = {Yonas Terefe and Fikresilasie Samuel},
      title = {Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia},
      journal = {American Journal of BioScience},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {87-92},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbio.20150303.14},
      abstract = {An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia
    AU  - Yonas Terefe
    AU  - Fikresilasie Samuel
    Y1  - 2015/05/06
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
    T2  - American Journal of BioScience
    JF  - American Journal of BioScience
    JO  - American Journal of BioScience
    SP  - 87
    EP  - 92
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-0167
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
    AB  - An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Biology, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia

  • Department of Medicine, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia

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