D'Ammando, Giacomo;
Caro, Tim;
Oelze, Vicky M;
Phillips, Seth;
Sime, Payton;
Stewart, Fiona A;
Piel, Alexander K;
(2022)
Ecological Drivers of Habitat Use by Meso Mammals in a Miombo Ecosystem in the Issa Valley, Tanzania.
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
, 10
, Article 773568. 10.3389/fevo.2022.773568.
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Abstract
Vast stretches of East and Southern Africa are characterized by a mosaic of deciduous woodlands and evergreen riparian forests, commonly referred to as “miombo,” hosting a high diversity of plant and animal life. However, very little is known about the communities of small-sized mammals inhabiting this heterogeneous biome. We here document the diversity and abundance of 0.5–15 kg sized mammals (“meso-mammals”) in a relatively undisturbed miombo mosaic in western Tanzania, using 42 camera traps deployed over a 3 year-period. Despite a relatively low diversity of meso-mammal species (n = 19), these comprised a mixture of savanna and forest species, with the latter by far the most abundant. Our results show that densely forested sites are more intensely utilized than deciduous woodlands, suggesting riparian forest within the miombo matrix might be of key importance to meso-mammal populations. Some species were captured significantly more often in proximity to (and sometimes feeding on) termite mounds (genus Macrotermes), as they are a crucial food resource. There was some evidence of temporal partitioning in activity patterns, suggesting hetero-specific avoidance to reduce foraging competition. We compare our findings to those of other miombo sites in south-central Africa.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ecological Drivers of Habitat Use by Meso Mammals in a Miombo Ecosystem in the Issa Valley, Tanzania |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fevo.2022.773568 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.773568 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Ecology, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, small mammals, miombo, habitat use, termite mounds, riparian forests, woodlands, meso-mammals, AIC MODEL SELECTION, CAMERA-TRAP DATA, NATIONAL-PARK, ACTIVITY PATTERNS, KATAVI ECOSYSTEM, BIODIVERSITY, PREDATION, COMMUNITY, ABUNDANCE, SAVANNA |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10149946 |
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