Rodents on the Move : Exploring Habitat‐Driven Richness, Abundance, and Diversity in East (…)

ABSTRACT

It is well established that different habitats support different levels of species richness, abundance, and diversity. This is true when it comes to heterogeneous habitats with different habitat conditions. With that focus, we present the findings of our results, which aimed to determine how species richness, abundance, and diversity of rodents vary across different habitats of an East African woodland ecosystem. The study was carried out during the rainy season (January–June 2023), and study grids were marked in four randomly selected habitats, including miombo woodland, Acacia–Combretum woodland, riverine, and farmland. Sherman live traps, pitfall traps, and havarhat traps were used to capture rodents in the selected habitats. A total of 219 individuals of rodents were captured in 28,224 trap-nights. These comprised 6 species of rodents, namely Mastomys natalensis, Mus munitoides, Acomys wilson, Gerbilluscus leucogaster, Graphiurus murinus, and Paraxerus ochracerus. The highest abundance of rodents was recorded in farmland and miombo woodland, while the least abundance was recorded in riverine and Acacia–Combretum woodland. Species diversity was highest in farmland and miombo woodland and lowest in riverine and Acacia–Combretum woodland. The distribution of species varied among habitats. Acomys wilson was the most widely distributed species, whereas Paraxerus ochracerus was the least. This study suggests that habitat heterogeneity is a key factor influencing rodent richness, abundance, and diversity; hence, it emphasizes the role of wildlife managers and conservationists to protect and conserve these habitats for the survival of small mammal communities.