Comparison of the diversity of small mammals between the wooded grassland and primary forest in Pande game reserve, Tanzania

Comparison of the diversity of small mammals between the wooded Grassland and Primary Forest was done in Pande Game Reserve during the west season (April and May of 2011). The main objective of the study was to document the status of these poorly known mammals in the Game Reserve so as to provide baseline data for their conservation. Species richness, diversity, trap success, and similarity of species between the two sites were investigated. Animals were sampled using four types of traps; Bucket pitfalls, Sherman, Tomahawk and Snap traps. A total of 103 individuals comprising of 18 species in 8 families were captured during this study, 73 from the Wooded Grassland and 30 from Primary Forest. Species richness was slightly higher in the Wooded Grassland (14 species ) than in the Primary Forest (11species); Chi-square test could not detect significant statistical difference. Using the special t-test, species diversity in the Wooded Grassland (H=0.78) and that of the primary Forest (H=0.71) were found not to differ significantly. The number of individuals captured in the Wooded Grassland (73) was found to be significantly higher than that of the Primary Forest (30). The difference noted could probably be due to the presence of more microhabitats in the Wooded Grassland that could support a larger number of individuals than in the Wooded Grassland and could support a larger of individuals that in primary Forest. The Sorensen Coefficient (CCs) value of 0.56 indicates a low similarity in the species inhabiting the two study sites. Such a low similarity is possibly due to some resemblance of the vegetation structures between the two study sites allowing some species to migrate within them. Results of this study show that the Game Reserve which was heavily degraded previously is now slowly recovering to its original status. The study recommends monitoring the biodiversity of small mammals and that future studies should be of extended period so as to cover wet and dry seasons as well as survey a large area of the Game Reserve.