Browsing by Author "Kalumanga, Elikana"

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    Abundance and diversity of small Mammals in disturbed and undisturbed forests in the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2007) Kalumanga, Elikana
    Small mammals are a poorly known fauna in the Eastern Are Mountains. In order to contribute to the knowledge of this faunal group, small mammals were trapped in the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania ta assess their abundance and diversity in the disturbed and undisturbed forests. The disturbed habitat included the cultivated field (shamba) and the fallow fields while the undisturbed habitat included the intact natural forest (Forest A) and a slightly disturbed forest (forest B). In each habitat, 3 nested plots were set in order to study their habitat characteristics. Small mammals were caught using Sherman live traps, snap traps and pitfall traps in both dry and wet seasons. A total of 449 individuals, spread over 14 species of rodents and crocidure shrews (identified to the genus level only) were trapped. The intact forest (A) had the highest diversity of small mammal; the cultivated field recorded the lowest diversity (F3,14= 0.8049; p = 0.4983). The fallow land recorded the highest trap success (50), followed by forest A (45.5) and forest B (42). The least trap success was recorded in the shamba (27.4) (H0.05,8,12,11,9 = 24.84,X20.05,3, = 7.815,P= 0.001). All the paired plots scored over 50% similarity indices, suggesting that, within a plot, species composition in all seasons did not vary significantly. Only generalist species were found in both disturbed and undisturbed forests. The forest-specialists (e.g. Beamys hindel) were strictly found in the forests. Canopy avoiding species (e.g. Lophuromys flavopunctatus) were mostly found in the disturbed forests. Therefore, the disturbed forests cannot sustainably support diverse small mammal species as it is in the natural forests.