Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia

Yonas Terefe; Fikresilasie Samuel

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia

Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel

Published in American Journal of BioScience (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 16 April 2015 Accepted: 22 April 2015 Published: 6 May 2015

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Abstract

An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.

Published in	American Journal of BioScience (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
Page(s)	87-92
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Species Composition, Abundance, Trap Success, Biomass, Rodents

References

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[10]	Datiko, D., Bekele, A. and Beley, G. (2007). Feeding ecology of pest rodents from Arbaminch forest and farmlands, Ethiopia. SINET: Ethiop. J. Sci. 30: 127-134.
[11]	Feldhamer, G. A., Drickamer, L. C., Vessey, S. H., Merritt, J. F. and Krajewski, C. (2007). Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity and Ecology, 3rd edn. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp. 643.
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[13]	Kasso, M.,Bekele, A. and Hemson, G. (2010). Species composition, abundance and habitat association of rodents and insectivores from Chilalo–Galama Mountain range, Arsi, Ethiopia. Afr. J. Ecol. 48: 1105-1114.
[14]	Odhiambo, C. O. and Oguge, N. O. (2003). Patterns in rodent pest distribution in a Maize cropping system in the Kenyan Rift Valley. In: Rats, Mice and People: RodentBiology and Mangement, pp. 217-219, (Singleton, G. R, Hinds, L. A., Krebs, C. J., and Spratt, D. M., eds). Australian Center of International Agricultural Research, Canberra.
[15]	Mengistu, S. andBekele, A. (2003). Geographic variation in the Ethiopian common Mole-rat (Tachyoryctessplendens) based on morphometry. Ethiop. J.Biol. Sci. 2: 73-89.
[16]	Sidorowicz, J. (1960). Effect of the weather on the capture of Micromammalia, Rodentia. Bialowieza9: 139-157.
[17]	Habtamu, T. andBekele, A.(2008). Habitat association of insectivores and rodents of Alatish National Park, northwestern Ethiopia. Trop. Ecol. 49: 1-10.
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Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. (2015). Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. American Journal of BioScience, 3(3), 87-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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ACS Style

Yonas Terefe; Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am. J. BioScience 2015, 3(3), 87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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AMA Style

Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am J BioScience. 2015;3(3):87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14,
  author = {Yonas Terefe and Fikresilasie Samuel},
  title = {Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia},
  journal = {American Journal of BioScience},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {87-92},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  abstract = {An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia
AU  - Yonas Terefe
AU  - Fikresilasie Samuel
Y1  - 2015/05/06
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
T2  - American Journal of BioScience
JF  - American Journal of BioScience
JO  - American Journal of BioScience
SP  - 87
EP  - 92
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0167
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
AB  - An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Yonas Terefe

Department of Biology, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia
Fikresilasie Samuel

Department of Medicine, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia

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APA Style

Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. (2015). Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. American Journal of BioScience, 3(3), 87-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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ACS Style

Yonas Terefe; Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am. J. BioScience 2015, 3(3), 87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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AMA Style

Yonas Terefe, Fikresilasie Samuel. Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia. Am J BioScience. 2015;3(3):87-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14,
  author = {Yonas Terefe and Fikresilasie Samuel},
  title = {Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia},
  journal = {American Journal of BioScience},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {87-92},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajbio.20150303.14},
  abstract = {An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Seasonal Species Composition and Abundance of Rodents in Yerer Mountain Forest Area, Central Ethiopia
AU  - Yonas Terefe
AU  - Fikresilasie Samuel
Y1  - 2015/05/06
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
T2  - American Journal of BioScience
JF  - American Journal of BioScience
JO  - American Journal of BioScience
SP  - 87
EP  - 92
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0167
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20150303.14
AB  - An ecological study on the seasonal species composition and abundance of rodents was carried out in the farmland, bushland, forest and grassland habitats of Yerer Mountain Forest Area from July 2010 to March 2011. From a total of 3312 trap nights, 402 individuals of small mammals were captured. Out of these, 400 (99.5%) individuals represented 6 species of the family Muridae and whereas the remaining 2 (0.5%) belonged to one shrew species (family Soricidae). The seasonal species composition within each habitat was not significant. But there was significant variation in their relative abundance during wet and dry seasons. High mean trap success (23.5%) and biomass (4151g/hectare) was obtained from the farmland habitat. Number of pregnant females and embryo count showed seasonal variation. Stomach content analysis showed high proportion of plant matter in all samples.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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