Influence of vegetation structure, seasonality and soil properties on rodent community assemblages in West Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
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Rodent diversity and community assemblage is affected by several biotic and abiotic factors including vegetation structure and seasonality. Vegetation structure particularly ground cover influences rodent diversity and community assemblage through provision of food resources and protection from predators. Such information is important for understanding species-habitat relationships for management and conservation purposes. This study was conducted to determine the influence of vegetation structure, seasonality and soil properties on species richness, abundance, community 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 four weeks intervals from April 2020 to March 2021. Environmental variables including vegetation structure, 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 species across all habitats and seasons. L. verhageni occurred in all habitats whilst R.pumilio was restricted from occurring in montane forests. Moreover, habitat types, seasonality, soil texture and ground cover significantly influenced rodent species richness and abundance. Generally, rodent species richness and abundance were significantly higher in fallows and montane forests and significantly lower in plantation forest, agricultural fields and moorland. Additionally, rodent diversity was highest in fallows, followed by montane forests and lowest in agricultural fields. Furthermore, rodents associated themselves with habitat types and vegetation features forming two community assemblages that differed significantly between habitats. Our study conclude that rodent assemblage on Mt. Kilimanjaro was affected by the functional spatial heterogeneity of habitats occupied. Therefore, the use of different habitats by rodents may be indicative of the landscape integrity and ecosystem changes based on species assemblages.
Keywords
Community assemblage, Mount Kilimanjaro, rodent diversity, vegetation structure