Abstract:
Community characteristics and seasonal abundance of rodents were investigated in a small-scale
maize field-fallow land mosaic in southwestern Tanzania between February 2001 and May 2002. During the study,
a total of 2568 rodents were captured in 9150 trapnights giving a 28 % trap success. Also shrews of the genus Croci-
dura (Soricidae) were recorded. Mastomys natalensis comprised the highest proportion of rodents caught account-
ing for 82.9 % of all captures. Other rodent genera captured included : Tatera, Saccostomus, Graphiurus, and Steat-
omys. Relative densities as measured by both trap success and the number of rodents per hectare, and biomass
varied between seasons with and without crop in the field but not between habitat types. The work reports seasonal-
ity in breeding for the two most commonly trapped species, Mastomys natalensis and Tatera leucogaster.
