Rodent assemblage in a habitat mosaic within the Valley Thicket vegetation of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Kryštufek, Boris; Haberl, Werner; Baxter, R. M.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00817.x

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Although nestedness is a common phenomenon in many ecological systems (Patterson, ; Patterson & Brown, ; Ulrich & Gotelli, ), we found no evidence of significantly nested patterns in the assemblages. Nested patterns were also not found in rodent assemblages in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (Kryštufek, Haberl & Baxter, ). Three mechanisms are necessary for the development of a nested community structure: a common biogeographical history, similar ecologically comparable environments and the hierarchical organization of niche relationships between species (Patterson & Brown, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Diversity of rodent and shrew assemblages in different vegetation types of the savannah biome in South Africa: no evidence for nested subsets or competition

Rautenbach

Dickerson²,

Schoeman

2013

Afr. J. Ecol.

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Identifying nonrandom species composition patterns predicted by assembly rules has been a central theme in community ecology. Few studies have investigated the prevalence of multiple drivers on species composition patterns in small mammal assemblages in the Old World. This study investigated seasonal changes in rodent and shrew diversity in eleven savannah vegetation types in South Africa. We tested whether species composition patterns are nonrandom with respect to predictions from Diamond's assembly rules, niche limitation hypothesis and nestedness hypothesis. Species richness estimators indicated that inventories for the rodents (80%) and shrews (100%) were relatively complete. Rodent (n = 11 species) diversity and shrew (n = 5 species) diversity were highest in summer and lowest in autumn. Rodent richness was highest in the Terminalia sericea bushveld and woodlands and lowest in the Drypetes arguta sand forest, whilst shrew richness was highest in the T. sericea bushveld and woodlands and lowest in the Acacia nilotica/Dichrostachys cinerea open shrub savannah. We found no support for the predictions of competition and nestedness hypotheses and suggest that this was probably due to the high seasonal and annual variability in rodent and shrew diversity. rongeurs etait la plus haute dans la brousse a Terminalia sericea et la forêt, et la plus faible dans la forêt sableuse a Drypetes arguta, alors que la richesse en musaraignes etait la plus elev ee dans la brousse a T. sericea et la forêt, et la plus faible dans la savane arbustive ouverte a Acacia-nilotica/ Dichrostachys cinerea. Nous n'avons rien trouv e qui vienne etayer les pr edictions des hypoth eses de comp etition et d'« imbrication », et nous sugg erons que c'est probablement dû a la forte variabilit e saisonni ere et annuelle de la diversit e des rongeurs et des musaraignes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Diversity of rodent and shrew assemblages in different vegetation types of the savannah biome in South Africa: no evidence for nested subsets or competition

Rautenbach

Dickerson²,

Schoeman

2013

Afr. J. Ecol.

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“…This ‘flexible’ use of the environment may be important for the species to persist when faced with high levels of anthropogenic transformation and environmental stochasticity (Monadjem ; Kryštufek et al . ; Feeley & Terborgh ,b). Indeed, forests may act as temporal refugia for individuals displaced by frequent fire events characteristic of grasslands (Low & Rebelo ; Feeley & Terborgh ,b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource partitioning of sympatric small mammals in an African forest-grassland vegetation mosaic

et al. 2013

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It is often hypothesized that two species competing for the same resource cannot stably coexist unless they partition their resources in space and time. More recently stable isotope analyses have complemented traditional, observation-based niche research by conceptualizing many of the characteristics of communities, for example, trophic niche width and the partitioning of resources. Here we quantify resource partitioning of sympatric small mammal species in an African ecosystem by analysing stable isotope ratios of hair collected from a South African forest-grassland vegetation mosaic, and combine this with known spatial and temporal behavioural data to interpret community competition and resource partitioning.We observe niche separation to different degrees across the entire community, with different species displaying either unique isotopic dietary preferences, or partitioning resources in space and/or time. d 13 C values were more enriched in species that inhabited afromontane grassland compared with those that inhabited afromontane forest, a reflection of the dominant vegetation in each habitat. Contrary to expectations, arboreal rodents occupied higher trophic positions than terrestrial rodents and approaching d 15 N values similar to insectivorous shrews, suggesting that arboreal rodents feed on items such as arthropods enriched in 15 N. While grassland species display phenotypic plasticity in terms of dietary preferences, small mammals that occurred in forests display narrow niche preferences, suggesting these species may be particularly sensitive to habitat modifications. Our results illustrate that the use of stable isotopes can be used in conjunction with spatial and temporal behavioural knowledge to elucidate resource partitioning in small African mammal communities.

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“…For example, Lambert et al (2006), studying in tropical Amazonia, obtained evidence that abundances of many species of small mammals were not responding directly to resource (food) levels, but rather to habitat features. For an assemblage of small rodents in the Valley Thicket of South Africa, vegetation structure correlated with abundance, number of species, and turnover of species, while no evidence was found that morphological structuring or hierarchical sets of ecological relationships existed among species (Kryštufek et al, 2007). Microhabitats sustain important resources for small mammals, and analyses of use of habitat may provide at least indirectly information on how such resources are used by different species and how this influences community structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Variation in habitat use of coexisting rodent species in a tropical dry deciduous forest

Poindexter¹,

Schnell²,

Sánchez-Hernández³

et al. 2012

Mammalian Biology

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a b s t r a c tUse of habitat is a critical component related to structure of small-mammal communities, with partitioning occurring primarily along dimensions of microhabitat, although use of microhabitat often does not explain fully use at a macrohabitat level. Through grid studies of small mammals in coastal Colima, Mexico (during January 2003-2005, we appraised influence of available habitat, species richness, abundance, and cumulative abundance of other small mammals on variation in habitat used by species. We evaluated 14 habitat variables (reflecting ground cover, slope, canopy, and vegetation density on vertical and horizontal axes) and developed a composite variable (principal component 1) reflecting general openness of habitat through which we addressed habitat use. For the four most common mammalian species (Sigmodon mascotensis, Heteromys pictus, Baiomys musculus, and Oryzomys couesi), two measures of variation in habitat used were employed to estimate niche breadth, one of which assessed variation in habitat use relative to variation present on a grid. Sigmodon mascotensis and B. musculus preferred areas that were more open, and H. pictus and O. couesi occupied less-open areas; breadth of habitat use did not differ interspecifically. Habitat use was more variable on grids with more variability in habitat, although not greater than chance expectations. Findings do not lend support to the resource-breadth hypothesis as an explanation for population densities of species at a local level or the habitat-heterogeneity hypothesis as a predictor of species richness. Variation in habitat used by S. mascotensis did not proportionally increase when diverse habitat was available but was greater when the species was more abundant. For H. pictus, when cumulative abundance of other small mammals was greater, breadth of habitat used was greater. Intraspecific density-dependent habitat selection may result in S. mascotensis selecting a greater variety of habitats, while greater interspecific abundance is related to a greater range in use of habitats by H. pictus. Baiomys musculus used a higher proportion of habitat relative to that available when more species were present on a grid. Variation in habitat used by O. couesi was unrelated to any factor examined. Overall, the four species responded in notably different ways with respect to availability of habitat, abundance, and presence of other species.

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Rodent assemblage in a habitat mosaic within the Valley Thicket vegetation of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

Diversity of rodent and shrew assemblages in different vegetation types of the savannah biome in South Africa: no evidence for nested subsets or competition

Diversity of rodent and shrew assemblages in different vegetation types of the savannah biome in South Africa: no evidence for nested subsets or competition

Resource partitioning of sympatric small mammals in an African forest-grassland vegetation mosaic

Variation in habitat use of coexisting rodent species in a tropical dry deciduous forest

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