Abstract:
A study on the effects of prescribed burning on rodent community ecology was conducted
in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The study aimed at generating ecological knowledge
on the changes in rodent communities when areas of the park are intentionally burned to
regulate grasslands or reduce undergrowth that can lead to uncontrolled forest fires.
A Complete Randomized Design (CRD) factorial layout with two treatments (burned and
unburned) and two replications was applied. A total of 148 animals comprising six species
of rodents and one insectivore were captured over 2,940 trap nights. Among the trapped
individuals, 41.9% were adults, 16.1% juveniles and 41.9% sub-adults. Males and females
were at parity between treatments. Species abundance was estimated using the Minimum
Number Alive method for different rodent species and was found to vary with treatment,
where Mastomys natalensis declined in burned plots whilst Arvicanthis niloticus
increased. However, species diversity did not differ across treatments (F1, 10 = 0.15, p
= 0.70). Differences in the reproductive condition of female M. natalensis (z = 4.408, df
= 15, p = 0.000) and A. niloticus (z = 2.381, df = 15, p = 0.017) were observed between
treatments showing that higher numbers of reproductively active females were observed in
burned plots in March, whilst in unburned plots it was from November to February.
Conservation strategies involving periodic habitat burning should, therefore, consider
small mammal reproductive periods to ensure that potentially at risk species are not
adversely affected and able to rapidly recover from the effects of burning on temporarily
lowering food resources and longer term impacts of increased predation caused by reduced
cover.
