Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve
The composition of small mammal communities in forest, shrub land, grassland and anthropogenic habitats of the Giritale Nature Reserve of north central Sri Lanka was studied from June 2006 to August 2007 to estimate the abundance and diversity of small mammals inhabiting this nature reserve. Live tr...
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ftusrijayewarden:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/2456 2024-09-15T18:31:54+00:00 Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve A.V.D.J., Indika W.A.D., Mahaulpatha 2015-08-26 application/pdf https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456 https://doi.org/10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456 eng eng University of Sri Jayewardenepura https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456/1442 10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456.g1442 https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456 doi:10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456 Vidyodaya Journal of Science; Vol. 18 No. 1 (2013) 2792-1298 10.31357/vjs.v18i1 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2015 ftusrijayewarden https://doi.org/10.31357/vjs.v18i1.245610.31357/vjs.v18i1 2024-07-29T03:08:49Z The composition of small mammal communities in forest, shrub land, grassland and anthropogenic habitats of the Giritale Nature Reserve of north central Sri Lanka was studied from June 2006 to August 2007 to estimate the abundance and diversity of small mammals inhabiting this nature reserve. Live trapping using Sherman traps and Pitfall traps were adopted to catch the small mammals. A total of 71 individuals representing two orders (Insectivora and Rodentia) and three families (Soricidae, Muridae, Scuridae) was captured. Species recorded included Suncus murinus murinus Linnaeus, 1766 (Common Indian Musk Shrew), Mus cervicolor fulvidiventris Blyth, 1852 (Ceylon Field Mouse), Mus mus culuscastaneus Waterhouse, 1843 (Indian Field Mouse), Mus fernandoni Phillips, 1932 (Ceylon Spiny Mouse), Rattus blanfordi Thomas, 1881 (White Tailed Rat), Funambulus palmarum Linnaeus, 1766 (Indian Palm Squirrel) and Rattus rattus. The species Rattus rattus consisted of two subspecies Rattus attusrattus Linnaeus, 1758 (Common House Rat) and Rattus rattus rufescens Gray, 1837 (Indian House Rat). Highest and lowest abundances were recorded in the grasslands (0.08) and shrub lands(0.01), respectively. Highest diversity index was recorded in anthropogenic habitats (1.62), which included paddy fields, home gardens and buildings, while lowest diversity index was recorded in shrub lands (0.67). The number of small mammals captured was significantly different in the four habitat types (χ2 = 22.69, df = 3, p<0.05). This study, which is the first detailed examination of terrestrial small mammals in a dry zone forest of Sri Lanka, indicated that the Giritale Nature Reserve is home to six species of small mammals. Key words: Abundance, Diversity, Evenness, Nature reserve, Small mammals Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Japura Open Journals University of Sri Jayewardenepura |
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Open Polar |
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Japura Open Journals University of Sri Jayewardenepura |
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ftusrijayewarden |
language |
English |
description |
The composition of small mammal communities in forest, shrub land, grassland and anthropogenic habitats of the Giritale Nature Reserve of north central Sri Lanka was studied from June 2006 to August 2007 to estimate the abundance and diversity of small mammals inhabiting this nature reserve. Live trapping using Sherman traps and Pitfall traps were adopted to catch the small mammals. A total of 71 individuals representing two orders (Insectivora and Rodentia) and three families (Soricidae, Muridae, Scuridae) was captured. Species recorded included Suncus murinus murinus Linnaeus, 1766 (Common Indian Musk Shrew), Mus cervicolor fulvidiventris Blyth, 1852 (Ceylon Field Mouse), Mus mus culuscastaneus Waterhouse, 1843 (Indian Field Mouse), Mus fernandoni Phillips, 1932 (Ceylon Spiny Mouse), Rattus blanfordi Thomas, 1881 (White Tailed Rat), Funambulus palmarum Linnaeus, 1766 (Indian Palm Squirrel) and Rattus rattus. The species Rattus rattus consisted of two subspecies Rattus attusrattus Linnaeus, 1758 (Common House Rat) and Rattus rattus rufescens Gray, 1837 (Indian House Rat). Highest and lowest abundances were recorded in the grasslands (0.08) and shrub lands(0.01), respectively. Highest diversity index was recorded in anthropogenic habitats (1.62), which included paddy fields, home gardens and buildings, while lowest diversity index was recorded in shrub lands (0.67). The number of small mammals captured was significantly different in the four habitat types (χ2 = 22.69, df = 3, p<0.05). This study, which is the first detailed examination of terrestrial small mammals in a dry zone forest of Sri Lanka, indicated that the Giritale Nature Reserve is home to six species of small mammals. Key words: Abundance, Diversity, Evenness, Nature reserve, Small mammals |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A.V.D.J., Indika W.A.D., Mahaulpatha |
spellingShingle |
A.V.D.J., Indika W.A.D., Mahaulpatha Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
author_facet |
A.V.D.J., Indika W.A.D., Mahaulpatha |
author_sort |
A.V.D.J., Indika |
title |
Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
title_short |
Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
title_full |
Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
title_fullStr |
Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diversity and abundance of Small Mammals in Giritale Nature Reserve |
title_sort |
diversity and abundance of small mammals in giritale nature reserve |
publisher |
University of Sri Jayewardenepura |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456 https://doi.org/10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
Vidyodaya Journal of Science; Vol. 18 No. 1 (2013) 2792-1298 10.31357/vjs.v18i1 |
op_relation |
https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456/1442 10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456.g1442 https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjs/article/view/2456 doi:10.31357/vjs.v18i1.2456 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.31357/vjs.v18i1.245610.31357/vjs.v18i1 |
_version_ |
1810473631728271360 |