Factors influencing the distribution and abundance of small rodent pest species in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Uganda
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Vertebrate Biology
Abstract
Small rodents are increasingly gaining importance as agricultural pests, with their distribution and
abundance known to vary across landscapes. This study aimed at identifying ecological factors in the landscape
that may influence small rodent distribution and abundance across agricultural landscapes in Uganda. This
information may be used to inform the development of adaptive control measures for small rodent pests. Small
rodent trapping surveys were conducted in three agro-ecosystem landscapes: Butaleja, Mayuge and Bulambuli
districts in Eastern Uganda between November 2017 to June 2018 covering both dry and wet seasons. Data on
small rodent abundance and richness, vegetation characteristics, land use/cover characteristics, farm management
practices and soil characteristics were collected from quadrats. Additionally, Geographic Information System and
remote sensing were used to determine vegetation characteristics (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – NDVI)
and land use/cover from satellite images. Our results showed that crop field state (including hygiene, crop type and
growth stage) is the most important variable with an overall relative importance of 34.4% prediction value for the
abundance of Mastomys natalensis across the landscape studied. In terms of number of species encountered (species
richness), results showed field crop status scoring highest with an overall relative importance of 39.8% at predicting
small rodent species richness. Second in importance for overall rodent abundance was percentage composition soil
silt particles with 15.6% and 18.1% for species richness and abundance respectively. Our findings have important
implications for small rodent management, where land use characteristics, especially field crop state, is a critical
factor as different conditions tend to affect rodent abundances differently. The study thus recommends that control efforts should be planned to consider field crop state; i.e. field hygiene where fields should be kept free of weeds to
eliminate potential rodent breeding/habitation sites thus lowering rates of reproduction and population increase.
Description
Keywords
Boosted Regression Trees, NDVI, Field crop status, Landscape units
Citation
Mayamba, A., Byamungu, R. M., Broecke, B. V., Leirs, H., Hieronimo, P., Nakiyemba, A., ... & Mulungu, L. S. (2020). Factors influencing the distribution and abundance of small rodent pest species in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Uganda. Journal of Vertebrate Biology, 69(2), 20002-1. DOI: 10.25225/jvb.20002