The Distribution and Abundance of Rodents in Alleltu Woreda, Oromia Region, Ethiopia.
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Date
2004-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The study on the distribution and abundance of rodents was canied out inside and outside
agricultural areas at Alleltu peasant association fi'om Oct. 2002 to April, 2003. The study was
conducted in three live trapping grids inside the wheat, bean and lentil field in agricultural
areas. A survey study was also conducted in different habitats outside the cultivated fields
using live and snap h·aps. During the whole study period, a total of 260 and 61 captures of
rodents were made inside and outside the cultivated fields respectively, by Capture Mark
Recaphlre (CMR) method. A total of321 specimens were h'apped fi'om 3762 trap nights. The
rodent species were: Maslomys lIalatensis, MilS mahomel alld Arvicallihis abyssillicl/s.
Population size estimate on the live trapping grids was made using minimum number of
animals (MNA) method as the numbers of recaptures were very few to use the Stochastic
Jolly- Seber model. Population size fluctuated in the different stages of crops. It reached its
peak when the crops were maturing and declined after harvest. Outside the cultivated field,
the snap trapping resulted in zero capture while the live h'apping showed an increase in the
number of rodents fi'om March to April.
Biomass varied in response to fluctuation of population size and differences in abundance of
each species in the tln'ee griqs.
Most of the distribution and abundance of rodents showed significant temporal variation. The
spatial variation of rodents showed that M Ilalatellsis was the dominant species in the
cultivated fields. But, A. abyssilliC/ls was revealed to be in a relatively higher number outside
the cultivated field around the bushes.
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Biology