Spatio-temporal patterns in the distribution of the multi-mammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, in rice crop and fallow land habitats in Tanzania
-
Loth S. Mulungu
,
Valency Sixbert
Abstract
An understanding of the dispersion patterns of a pest is an important pre-requisite for developing an effective management programme for the pest. In this study, rodents were trapped in two rice fields and two fallow fields for three consecutive nights each month from June 2010 to May 2012. Mastomys natalensis was the most abundant rodent pest species in the study area, accounting for >95% of the trapped rodent community. Rattus rattus, Dasymys incomtus, Acomys spinosissimus and Grammomys dolichurus comprised relatively small proportions of the trapped population. Morisita’s index of dispersion was used to measure the relative dispersal pattern (aggregate, random, uniform) of individuals across each trapping grid as a means of comparing rodent distribution in rice and fallow fields over time. This analysis revealed that the rodents in rice fields generally exhibited an aggregated spatio-temporal distribution. However, the rodents in fallow fields were generally less aggregated, approaching a random distribution in some habitats and seasons. Heat maps of trapping grids visually confirmed these dispersal patterns, indicating the clumped or random nature of captured rodents. ANOVA showed that the parameters of habitat (rice, fallow), crop stage (transplanting, vegetative, booting, maturity) and cropping season (wet, dry) all significantly impacted the number of rodents captured, with the vegetative, dry season, fallow habitat having the highest number of rodents; and the transplanting, wet season, rice habitat with the least number of rodents. Therefore, such spatio-temporal patterns can serve as a tool for developing stratified biodiversity sampling plans for small mammals and decision making for rodent pest management strategies.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Fund (ZARDEF) and the EU ACP S&T StopRats project. We appreciate the excellent field assistance from Messrs Khalid S. Kibwana, Omary Kibwana, Shabani Lutea, Geoffrey Sabuni and Ramadhani Kigunguli of the Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the leaders and farmers of Hembeti village for their good co-operation during the course of our field data collection.
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©2015 by De Gruyter
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Original Studies
- Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) social organization in semiarid grasslands of San Luis, Argentina
- Demographic trends of a reintroduced Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica victoriae population in central Spain
- Circulating concentrations of gonadal and adrenocortical hormones in wild nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)
- Do polygynous males of Akodon azarae (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) vary their mating tactics at low availability of females?
- Reproduction and postnatal development in the Yucatan vesper mouse
- Spatio-temporal patterns in the distribution of the multi-mammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, in rice crop and fallow land habitats in Tanzania
- Testing a long-standing hypothesis on the relation between the auditory bulla size and environmental conditions: a case study in two jird species (Muridae: Meriones libycus and M. crassus)
- First records of Murina lorelieae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Vietnam
- Rediscovery of the Hungarian birch mouse (Sicista subtilis trizona) in Transylvania (Romania) with molecular characterisation of its phylogenetic affinities
- Phylogenetic position of the giant house bat Scotophilus nigrita (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)
- Short Notes
- Predation record of a Perote ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus perotensis) by a prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus)
- Home range and shelter preferences of marsupial Didelphis aurita (Wied-Neuwied, 1826) in a fragmented area in southeastern Brazil
- Confirmation of threatened white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris) in Gansu and Sichuan, China, and their overlap with livestock
- Reassessing the breeding range limits for two long-distance migratory vespertilionid bats, Pipistrellus nathusii and Nyctalus leisleri in the Italian Peninsula
- The Blasius’ horseshoe bat Rhinolophus blasii (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) still extends to Pakistan
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Differences in population parameters of Rattus norvegicus in urban and rural habitats of central Argentina
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Original Studies
- Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) social organization in semiarid grasslands of San Luis, Argentina
- Demographic trends of a reintroduced Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica victoriae population in central Spain
- Circulating concentrations of gonadal and adrenocortical hormones in wild nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)
- Do polygynous males of Akodon azarae (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) vary their mating tactics at low availability of females?
- Reproduction and postnatal development in the Yucatan vesper mouse
- Spatio-temporal patterns in the distribution of the multi-mammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, in rice crop and fallow land habitats in Tanzania
- Testing a long-standing hypothesis on the relation between the auditory bulla size and environmental conditions: a case study in two jird species (Muridae: Meriones libycus and M. crassus)
- First records of Murina lorelieae (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Vietnam
- Rediscovery of the Hungarian birch mouse (Sicista subtilis trizona) in Transylvania (Romania) with molecular characterisation of its phylogenetic affinities
- Phylogenetic position of the giant house bat Scotophilus nigrita (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)
- Short Notes
- Predation record of a Perote ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus perotensis) by a prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus)
- Home range and shelter preferences of marsupial Didelphis aurita (Wied-Neuwied, 1826) in a fragmented area in southeastern Brazil
- Confirmation of threatened white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris) in Gansu and Sichuan, China, and their overlap with livestock
- Reassessing the breeding range limits for two long-distance migratory vespertilionid bats, Pipistrellus nathusii and Nyctalus leisleri in the Italian Peninsula
- The Blasius’ horseshoe bat Rhinolophus blasii (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) still extends to Pakistan
- Corrigendum
- Corrigendum to: Differences in population parameters of Rattus norvegicus in urban and rural habitats of central Argentina
