Rodent species composition, abundance, richness, and diversity amongst different habitats in two villages in the Mukwe Constituency, Kavango East region of Namibia
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Date
2024
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Rodents are habitat bio-indicators because their population dynamics respond to
changing environmental and habitat alteration such as environmental disturbances.
Some rodent species such as Mastomys natalensis are agricultural pests and have
caused a lot of damage to crop harvests and peoples’ belongings. Additionally, rodents
serve as vectors for deadly diseases which they can transmit to humans. The aim of
this study was to examine variations in the rodent species composition, abundance,
richness and species diversity amongst different habitats (fallow land, less disturbed
land and in the houses) in Bagani and Diyogha village, in the Mukwe Constituency.
Trapping was conducted over a period of twelve months using PVC live traps, for three
consecutive nights in each habitat. A total number of 285 rodent captures were
recorded in 16,272 trap nights; comprising of five different rodent species, which were
Mastomys natalensis, Gerbilliscus leucogaster, Thallomys paedulcus, Saccostomus
campestris and Steatomys pratensis. A Kruskal-Wallis H test showed that there was
no statistically significant difference in rodent species abundance amongst the three
habitats in Bagani (χ2 = 1.665, df = 2, p = 0.4101), and Diyogha (χ2 = 1.715, df = 2, p
= 0.3978). Whereas the same test has also revealed that there was a statistically
significant difference in the rodent species richness between the fallow land (SR = 4)
and the less disturbed land (SR = 2) as well as the less disturbed land (SR = 2) and
houses (SR = 3) in Bagani (χ2 = 10.81, df = 35, p = 0.0026), and between the fallow
land (SR = 2) and houses (SR = 3) in Diyogha (χ2 = 12.18, df = 35, P = 0.001).
Additionally, the test revealed that there was no significant difference in the rodent
species diversity amongst the three habitats in Bagani (χ2 = 2.551; df = 35, p = 0.147),
however, there was a significant difference in the rodent diversity amongst the habitats
in Diyogha (χ2 = 4.97; df = 35, p = 0.029). Dunn’s post hoc test was used for all the
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parameters to further explore the differences within the habitats. It showed that there
was a significant difference in the rodent species richness between the fallow land and
the less disturbed land (p = 0.006) as well as between less disturbed land and the houses
(p = 0.001) in Bagani. Whereas in Diyogha, there was a significant difference in the
species richness between the fallow land and the houses (p = < 0.002). Lastly, the post
hoc test showed a significant difference in rodent species diversity between the fallow
land and the houses (p = 0.0084). An HCA based on a Bray Curtis Similarity Index
showed that there was a 30% and a 22% similarity in the rodent species composition
amongst the three habitats in Bagani and Diyogha, respectively. The Spearman’s
correlation (Rs) test revealed that rodent species abundance was weakly positively
correlated with the rainfall (r= 0.146, n = 12, p = 0.650) and relative humidity (r =
0.403, n = 12, p = 0.193), however, the temperature (r = -0.05, n = 12, p = 0.87) had a
negative influence on the rodent numbers in Bagani. Furthermore, in Diyogha, all three
weather parameters had positive correlations to the rodent numbers during different
seasons or months. The following study revealed that the different habitats in both
villages did not influence the rodent species abundance. A similar study to the current
one should be conducted for a period longer than two years in order to compare the
influence climatic variables have on the rodent numbers in both Bagani and Diyogha
village. However, the study should use a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) technique
instead of euthanizing the rodents
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of science (Biology)
Keywords
Rodents, Species, Abundance, Richness, Diversity, Composition, Fallow land, Less disturbed land, Houses, Climatic variables