Rodent Species of Sarıkum Nature Protection Area

Abstract

Sarıkum Nature Protection area, located in the west of Sinop Province with the registration of 'nature protection area' and declaration of 'grade 1 natural site area', has a wide variety of ecosystems in which lake, swamp, dune, terrestrial forest and floodplain forestland ecosystems change within short distances. The fact that the region has different life alternatives is very important in diversifying wildlife species. With this study, the rodent species that have distributed in the Sarıkum Nature Protection Area have been identified. Field works were carried out between September 2018 and November 2019. Most of the small mammals belonging to order of Rodentia were caught by live catch traps and identified. After the species identification the specimens in the traps were let out to the region which they were captured. In Sarıkum Nature Protection Area, a total of ten different rodent species belonging to 3 families, Sciuridae, Cricetidae and Muridae, have been identified. One species, Sciurus anomalus, which was one of the Sciuridae family species, could be directly observed. Remaining 9 rodent species were detected by using live catch traps. The most frequently caught rodent species among all was Apodemus mystacinus from Muridae family, with a percentage of 23%. The habitat type, where the largest number of rodent species were obtained and observed, were mixed plants and shrub land areas. All of the rodent species identified in Sarıkum Nature Protection Area were in LC (wide spread, low risk) category of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Identification of rodent species in Sarıkum Nature Protection Area contribute to mammalian biodiversity at the regional level and will enable species-based approach in subsequent studies.