Food Selection and Feeding Behavior of Giant Mole Rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, Ruppell, 1842) from the Sanetti Plateau of Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

Yaba, Mohammed; Mekonnen, Tariku; Bekele, Afework; Malcolm, James

doi:10.3923/ajaps.2011.735.740

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The distribution and habitat association of mammals are often correlated mainly with the availability of water, food and cover (Yaba et al, 2011;Girma et al, 2012). The high abundance of mammalian species in Grassland, in this study, might be due to these factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

The diversity, abundance and habitat association of medium and large-sized mammals of Dati Wolel National Park, Western Ethiopia

Gonfa¹,

Gadisa²,

Habitamu³

2015

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

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Knowledge of the faunal diversity, abundance and habitat preference are basics for the status determination and proposing appropriate conservation measures. A survey was conducted to assess the diversity, relative abundance and habitat association of medium and large-sized mammals of the Dati Wolel National Park, Western Ethiopia from September 2012 to April 2013. It was hypothesized that the area is rich in mammalian species that prefer to live in grassland and woodland close to water source. Four habitat types were assessed during the study (wetland, woodland, riverine forest and grassland). Line transect survey method was used to collect data in the four sampled habitats. A total of 28 mammalian species were recorded. Woodland was the habitat with the most diversity of mammals (H' =2.643) followed by riverine forest (H' = 1.60677), and the wetland was considered the habitat with the least diversity of species (H'= 1.04086). Hippopotamus amphibius (hippopotamus; 43.92%) and Syncerus caffer (African buffalo; 33.3%) were the most abundant species, while Mellivora capensis (honey badger) and Ichneumia albicauda (black backed jackal) were the least observed (0.099%, each). The greatest species similarity was recorded between woodland and grassland (SI=0.76) and the lowest was between woodland and wetland (SI= 0.4). Thorough inventory for faunal diversity, involving multiple seasons and all vertebrates, strengthening the now loose park management by involving the local people will ensure the sustainability of the ecosystem in supporting the riche biodiversity components.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

The diversity, abundance and habitat association of medium and large-sized mammals of Dati Wolel National Park, Western Ethiopia

Gonfa¹,

Gadisa²,

Habitamu³

2015

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

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“…The species with the highest biomass of all plants across the study area was A. abyssinica. This short hemicryptophyte is also one of the main food plants of the giant root-rat (Yaba et al 2011). Its abundance was severely reduced in areas with a high density of fresh burrow openings and mounds, likely as a consequence of both consumption and overlying by mounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The giant root-rat is known as the most important prey of the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis in the Bale Mountains (Sillero-Zubiri & Gottelli 1995), but its ecological role is much broader. It constructs elaborate underground burrows and forages on plants usually in the immediate vicinity of the bur-row openings (Yalden 1975(Yalden , 1985Sillero-Zubiri et al 1995b;Yaba et al 2011). Areas of high root-rat density are characterized by "spongy" soil and mounds covering a large proportion of the ground surface (Yalden 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological role of the giant root‐rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) in the Afroalpine ecosystem

Šklíba

Vlasatá

Lövy

et al. 2017

Integrative Zoology

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Rodents with prevailing subterranean activity usually play an important role in the ecosystems of which they are a part due to the combined effect of herbivory and soil perturbation. This is the case for the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. We studied the impact of root-rats on various ecosystem features within a 3.5-ha study locality dominated by Alchemilla pasture, which represents an optimal habitat for this species, in 2 periods of a year. The root-rats altered plant species composition, reducing the dominant forb, Alchemilla abyssinica, while enhancing Salvia merjame and a few other species, and reduced vegetation cover, but not the fresh plant biomass. Where burrows were abandoned by root-rats, other rodents took them over and A. abyssinica increased again. Root-rat burrowing created small-scale heterogeneity in soil compactness due to the backfilling of some unused burrow segments. Less compacted soil tended to be rich in nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which likely affected the plant growth on sites where the vegetation has been reduced as a result of root-rat foraging and burrowing.

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“…These populations are restricted to habitats that are naturally disturbed, typically by the giant mole rat. While other mole rats feed underground, the giant mole rat that is endemic to the Bale Mountains mostly forages above ground, heavily disturbing the soil and clearing the vegetation around their tunnel openings [ 27 ]. This creates a type of habitat well-known to be suitable for establishment of plant hybrids, e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structuring, dispersal and taxonomy of the high-alpine populations of the Geranium arabicum/kilimandscharicum complex in tropical eastern Africa

et al. 2017

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The scattered eastern African high mountains harbor a renowned and highly endemic flora, but the taxonomy and phylogeographic history of many plant groups are still insufficiently known. The high-alpine populations of the Geranium arabicum/kilimandscharicum complex present intricate morphological variation and have recently been suggested to comprise two new endemic taxa. Here we aim to contribute to a clarification of the taxonomy of these populations by analyzing genetic (AFLP) variation in range-wide high-alpine samples, and we address whether hybridization has contributed to taxonomic problems. We identified only two genetic groups. One corresponded to G. kilimandscharicum, which has been reported as exclusively high-alpine and confined to the eastern Rift mountains in East Africa. The other corresponded to G. arabicum, reported from lower altitudes on the same mountains as well as from a wide altitudinal span in Ethiopia and on the western Rift mountains in East Africa. The four populations analyzed of a recently described species from the Bale Mts in Ethiopia were admixed, indicating that they result from recent long-distance dispersal of G. kilimandscharicum from East Africa followed by hybridization with local G. arabicum in naturally disturbed habitats. Some admixture between the two genetic groups was also inferred on other mountains, supporting earlier suggestions of introgression based on morphology. We did not find support for recognition of the recently suggested new subspecies of G. arabicum in Ethiopia. Interestingly, the high-alpine G. kilimandscharicum lacked clear geographic structuring, suggesting a recent history of colonization of the different mountains or extensive intermountain gene flow.

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Food Selection and Feeding Behavior of Giant Mole Rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, Ruppell, 1842) from the Sanetti Plateau of Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

Cited by 17 publications

References 5 publications

The diversity, abundance and habitat association of medium and large-sized mammals of Dati Wolel National Park, Western Ethiopia

The diversity, abundance and habitat association of medium and large-sized mammals of Dati Wolel National Park, Western Ethiopia

Ecological role of the giant root‐rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) in the Afroalpine ecosystem

Genetic structuring, dispersal and taxonomy of the high-alpine populations of the Geranium arabicum/kilimandscharicum complex in tropical eastern Africa

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