Influence of vegetation structure, seasonality, and soil properties on rodent diversi community assemblages in west Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
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Date
2022-07-22
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Abstract
Rodent diversity and community assemblages are affected by several biotic and
abiotic factors such as vegetation structure and seasonality. Vegetation structure
particularly ground cover influences rodent diversity and community assemblages
through provision of food resources and protection from predators. Such informa-
tion is important for understanding species–habitat relationships for management
and conservation. This study was conducted to determine the influence of vegetation
structure, seasonality, and soil properties on species richness, abundance, commu-
nity assemblages, and habitat association of rodents in west Mt Kilimanjaro. Rodent
trapping was conducted using removal and capture–mark–recapture (CMR) methods
with medium-sized Sherman's live traps, snap, and Havarhart traps. Rodents were
trapped during wet and dry seasons for three consecutive nights at 4 weeks intervals
from April 2020 to March 2021. Environmental variables including vegetation struc-
ture, soil physical properties, and disturbance levels were recorded for each habitat
type. Fourteen species of rodents were trapped in 25,956 trap nights. Rhabdomys
pumilio, Praomys delectorum, and Lophuromys verhageni were the most dominant spe-
cies across all habitats and seasons. L.verhageni occurred in all habitats while R.pumilio
was restricted from occurring in montane forests. Moreover, species richness and
abundance were influenced by habitat types, seasonality, soil type, and ground cover.
Generally, both species richness and abundance were higher in fallows and montane
forests and significantly lower in plantation forest and agricultural fields. In addition,
rodent diversity was highest in fallows, followed by montane forests, and lowest in
agricultural fields. Furthermore, rodents were associated with habitat types and veg-
etation structure forming two major community assemblages that significantly dif-
fered between habitats. Our study conclude that, community assemblages of rodents
on Mt. Kilimanjaro were affected by functional spatial heterogeneity of the habitats
occupied. Therefore, use of different habitats by rodents may be indicative of the
landscape integrity and ecosystem changes based on species assemblages
Description
Ecology and Evolution
Keywords
community assemblage, Mount Kilimanjaro, rodent diversity, vegetation structure
Citation
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9211