Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania
Threats to ecosystems are ever increasing from different drivers mostly being linked to anthropogenic activities. This has brought about various measures to restore/protect the wildlife in these areas. Considering the background of most protected areas in East Africa, small mammals have been given l...
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ftjafricanj:oai:ajol.info:article/229904 2023-05-15T18:05:10+02:00 Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania Saanya, Aenea Massawe, Apia Makundi, Rhodes 2022-08-18 application/pdf https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904 eng eng NISC (Pty) Ltd https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904/217050 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904 African Zoology; Vol. 57 No. 1 (2022); 20-31 2224-073X 1562-7020 abundance diversity Mammalia riverine forests small fauna info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2022 ftjafricanj 2022-08-28T00:25:57Z Threats to ecosystems are ever increasing from different drivers mostly being linked to anthropogenic activities. This has brought about various measures to restore/protect the wildlife in these areas. Considering the background of most protected areas in East Africa, small mammals have been given least attention, compared with large mammals, although they play a fundamental role in maintaining ecosystem health. It is therefore necessary to understand how small mammals are distributed in any given ecosystem as a baseline information to enable holistic and informed management. We investigated the diversity and distribution of small mammals in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania. Two methods were used; Capture Mark Recapture (CMR) using grids of 70 m × 70 m and random placement of havahart traps in the selected habitats. Between July 2018 and June 2020, a total of 887 individuals belonging to 20 species were captured in 28 224 trap nights with 3% trap success. The small mammal species captured consisted of rodents (91.8%), Macroscelidea (3.9%), Carnivores (2.4%) Eulipotyphla (1.6%), and Primates (0.3%). Acomys ngurui (36%) and Aethomys chrysophilus (17%) were the most captured species, whereas Atilax paludinosus (0.23%), Helogale pervula (0.23%), Rattus rattus (0.23%) and Galerella sanguinea (0.11%) were the least contributing species. Acomys ngurui and Lemniscomys rosalia were the most distributed species occurring in all four habitats, whereas Cricetomys ansorgei, Rattus rattus, Mungos mungo and Genetta genetta had low occurrence. Grammomys selousi is reported for the first time in the northern part of the Rufiji River. Acomys ngurui abundance differed significantly (χ2 = 12, df = 3, p = 0.007) between the four habitats being higher in the seasonal riverine forest and across seasons (χ2 = 6, df = 2, p = 0.049), with more individuals occurring in the wet season. The Sable Forest habitat had the highest species diversity (H′ = 2.065) and the lowest diversity (H′ = 1.506) was recorded in perennial riverine ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus AJOL - African Journals Online |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
AJOL - African Journals Online |
op_collection_id |
ftjafricanj |
language |
English |
topic |
abundance diversity Mammalia riverine forests small fauna |
spellingShingle |
abundance diversity Mammalia riverine forests small fauna Saanya, Aenea Massawe, Apia Makundi, Rhodes Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
topic_facet |
abundance diversity Mammalia riverine forests small fauna |
description |
Threats to ecosystems are ever increasing from different drivers mostly being linked to anthropogenic activities. This has brought about various measures to restore/protect the wildlife in these areas. Considering the background of most protected areas in East Africa, small mammals have been given least attention, compared with large mammals, although they play a fundamental role in maintaining ecosystem health. It is therefore necessary to understand how small mammals are distributed in any given ecosystem as a baseline information to enable holistic and informed management. We investigated the diversity and distribution of small mammals in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania. Two methods were used; Capture Mark Recapture (CMR) using grids of 70 m × 70 m and random placement of havahart traps in the selected habitats. Between July 2018 and June 2020, a total of 887 individuals belonging to 20 species were captured in 28 224 trap nights with 3% trap success. The small mammal species captured consisted of rodents (91.8%), Macroscelidea (3.9%), Carnivores (2.4%) Eulipotyphla (1.6%), and Primates (0.3%). Acomys ngurui (36%) and Aethomys chrysophilus (17%) were the most captured species, whereas Atilax paludinosus (0.23%), Helogale pervula (0.23%), Rattus rattus (0.23%) and Galerella sanguinea (0.11%) were the least contributing species. Acomys ngurui and Lemniscomys rosalia were the most distributed species occurring in all four habitats, whereas Cricetomys ansorgei, Rattus rattus, Mungos mungo and Genetta genetta had low occurrence. Grammomys selousi is reported for the first time in the northern part of the Rufiji River. Acomys ngurui abundance differed significantly (χ2 = 12, df = 3, p = 0.007) between the four habitats being higher in the seasonal riverine forest and across seasons (χ2 = 6, df = 2, p = 0.049), with more individuals occurring in the wet season. The Sable Forest habitat had the highest species diversity (H′ = 2.065) and the lowest diversity (H′ = 1.506) was recorded in perennial riverine ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saanya, Aenea Massawe, Apia Makundi, Rhodes |
author_facet |
Saanya, Aenea Massawe, Apia Makundi, Rhodes |
author_sort |
Saanya, Aenea |
title |
Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
title_short |
Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
title_full |
Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
title_fullStr |
Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
title_full_unstemmed |
Small mammal species diversity and distribution in the Selous ecosystem, Tanzania |
title_sort |
small mammal species diversity and distribution in the selous ecosystem, tanzania |
publisher |
NISC (Pty) Ltd |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
African Zoology; Vol. 57 No. 1 (2022); 20-31 2224-073X 1562-7020 |
op_relation |
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904/217050 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/az/article/view/229904 |
_version_ |
1766176627822166016 |