Abstract:
Differences in the ecological niche requirements among rodent species competing in the same
habitat may result from differences in the use of one to three resources: space, time and food or
some combination of these. Alternatively, differences in resource use utilization among animal
species may simply reflect availability of food, and when food is limited, different animal
species compete. In this study, the diet of two rodent pest species, Mastomys natalensis and
Gerbilliscus vicinus, coexisting in fallow land in central Tanzania were studied to assess the
degree of diet differentiation among them. Dietary niche breadth of G. vicinus was greater than
that of M. natalensis in all stages of the maize cropping seasons. The rodent species studied
overlapped considerably in the food items consumed ranging from niche overlap (Ojk) of
0.77–0.89. Grains/seeds featured high in the diet of M. natalensis while plant material occurrence
was high in G. vicinus. These two food categories may have contributed to differences in
diet partitioning, which may, in turn, facilitate their coexistence in fallow land.
