SMALL MAMMALS OF A WOODLAND-SAVANNA ECOSYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE .2. COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

Citation
Av. Linzey et Mh. Kesner, SMALL MAMMALS OF A WOODLAND-SAVANNA ECOSYSTEM IN ZIMBABWE .2. COMMUNITY STRUCTURE, Journal of zoology, 243, 1997, pp. 153-162
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Zoology
Journal title
ISSN journal
09528369
Volume
243
Year of publication
1997
Part
1
Pages
153 - 162
Database
ISI
SICI code
0952-8369(1997)243:<153:SMOAWE>2.0.ZU;2-N
Abstract
Community characteristics of small mammals in five woodland-savannah h abitats (riverine grassland, miombo, mopane, talus, thicket) were stud ied at Sengwa Wildlife Research Area in Zimbabwe between July 1992 and July 1993. The study was initiated following a drought year and exten ded over a year of average rainfall. Fourteen species of small mammals were recorded during mark-and-recapture trapping, with the number of species known to occur in a single community ranging from three to nin e. Species complements and biomass (g/ha) were lowest during the first portion of the study and peaked during the 1993 cool dry season. Spec ies diversity (H') was lowest in the hot dry season and highest in the cool dry season. Temporal variation in biomass and species diversity was least in talus and greatest in riverine grassland. Communities in talus and thicket were most similar and those in riverine grassland an d thicket least similar. In general, these results suggest that woodla nd-savannah communities are highly variable and appear to be resource- limited.