Species Composition, Distribution, Relative Abundance and Habitat Association of Rodents in Arbaminch Forest and Farmlands, Ethiopia.

Demeke, Datiko (2006) Species Composition, Distribution, Relative Abundance and Habitat Association of Rodents in Arbaminch Forest and Farmlands, Ethiopia. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

A comparative study of species composition, distribution and habitat association of pest rodents was carried out in Arbaminch Forest and nearby farmlands from August, 2005 to April, 2006. Six different types of habitats, four from natural forest and two from farmlands were randomly selected. These samples were from ground water forest, riverine forest, deciduous bushland, Lake Abaya shore, maize plantation and cotton plantation. In each habitat type, one representative trapping grid was randomly selected for live trapping. In addition, rodents were also surveyed from each habitat by snap trapping. Sixteen species of small mammals that including two shrews were recorded from the study area. Thirteen small mammals trapped were Mastomys natalensis (32.9%), Arvicanthis dembeensis (30.6%), Acomys cahirinus (10.3%), Lemniscomys striatus (8.3%), Mastomys erythroleucus (5.7%), Tatera robusta (3.4%), Arvicanthis niloticus (2.9%), Stenocephalemys albipes (2.1%), Grammomys dolichurus (1.3%), Mus musculus (1.3%) and Mus tenellus (0.3%), Crocidura flavescence (0.6%) and Crocidura fumosa (0.3%). The distribution of species varied from habitat to habitat and season to season. Eleven and seven rodent species were trapped from natural habitats and farmlands, respectively. Among trapped rodents, M. natalensis was the most widely distributed species, whereas T. robusta and L. striatus were the least. The population was also varied from season to season, high during the dry season and less during the wet season. Four rodent species (M. natalensis, A. dembeensis M. musculus and, Hystrix cristata ) were recoded as pests species of maize crops in farmlands.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology S Agriculture > SD Forestry
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Selom Ghislain
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2018 11:53
Last Modified:	01 Oct 2018 11:53
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/5834

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