Abstract
Considering climate change and high population increase, the conversion of natural habitats into arable land is rising at an alarming rate in the Ethiopian highlands. The impact on the diversity of rodents and shrews is difficult to measure since historical data are often unavailable. However, the relative effects of such land-use changes could be contemplated by comparing with data from similar natural habitats in adjacent areas. Between October to November 2018, we randomly setup 20 infrared camera traps in wheat fields located near Mount Guna at about 3350 m elevation, as part of a large research project investigating the efficacy of rodent repellent botanicals. We recorded six rodent species (Arvicanthis abyssinicus, Dendromus lovati, Dendromus mystacalis, Hystrix cristata, Mus mahomet and Stenocephalemys albipes) and two shrew species (Crocidura cf. baileyi and Crocidura olivieri). A. abyssinicus, H. cristata and S. albipes are known to occur in agricultural fields. D. lovati was recorded from anthropogenic habitat for the first time in this study. The species has been described as rare or difficult to capture with conventional traps. We call for rigorous biodiversity studies and conservation measures in agroecosystems in the Ethiopian highlands to avert further losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Funding source: The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all the farmers who made their fields available for the research and the authorities in Mowecha village and Guna Begemidir Office of Agriculture for granting permission for the research. Mulat Sendek and Adbaru Asrade provided valuable support during the fieldwork.
-
Author contributions: YM, GE, LB, FvS conceived the study and obtained funding; YM, TT, GE, LB organized/did the fieldwork; YM, GM, JB performed species identification; YM, EC, JB wrote the first draft of the manuscript that was complemented by all authors. All authors also approved the final version of the manuscript.
-
Research funding: Funding for this research was obtained from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
-
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
-
Research ethics: Permission to conduct the research was obtained from the Amhara Bureau of Agriculture, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Verbal consent was obtained from the farmers who volunteer their farms to deploy the camera traps.
References
Alemayehu, N. and Tekalign, W. (2020). Prevalence of crop damage and crop-raiding animals in southern Ethiopia: the resolution of the conflict with the farmers. Geo J., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10287-0.Search in Google Scholar
Amori, G. and De Smet, K. (2016). Hystrix cristata. The IUCN red list of threatened species 2016: e.T10746A22232484, Available at: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T10746A22232484.en. (Accessed 29 April 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Atickem, A., Simeneh, G., Bekele, A., Mekonnen, T., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Hill, R.A., and Stenseth, N.C. (2017). African wolf diet, predation on livestock and conflict in the Guassa mountains of Ethiopia. Afr. J. Ecol. 55: 632–639, https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12399.Search in Google Scholar
Bannikova, A.A., Zemlemerova, E.D., Lebedev, V.S., and Lavrenchenko, L.A. (2021). The phylogenetic relationships within the Eastern Afromontane clade of Crocidura based on mitochondrial and nuclear data. Mamm. Biol. 101: 1005–1018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00120-7.Search in Google Scholar
Bryja, J., Mikula, O., Sumbera, R., Meheretu, Y., Aghova, T., Lavrenchenko, L.A., Mazoch, V., Oguge, N., Mbau, J.S., Kiros, W., et al. (2014). Pan-African phylogeny of Mus (subgenus Nannomys) reveals one of the most successful mammal radiations in Africa. BMC Evol. Biol. 14: 256, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-014-0256-2.Search in Google Scholar
Bryja, J., Kostin, D., Meheretu, Y., Šumbera, R., Bryjová, A., Kasso, M., Mikula, O., and Lavrenchenko, L.A. (2018). Reticulate Pleistocene evolution of Ethiopian rodent genus along remarkable altitudinal gradient. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 118: 75–87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.020.Search in Google Scholar
Bryja, J., Colangelo, P., Lavrenchenko, L.A., Meheretu, Y., Šumbera, R., Bryjová, A., Verheyen, E., Leirs, H., and Castiglia, R. (2019a). Diversity and evolution of African grass rats (Muridae: Arvicanthis) - from radiation in East Africa to repeated colonization of northwestern and southeastern savannas. J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 57: 970–988, https://doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12290.Search in Google Scholar
Bryja, J., Meheretu, Y., Šumbera, R., and Lavrenchenko, L.A. (2019b). Annotated checklist, taxonomy and distribution of rodents in Ethiopia. Folia Zoologica 68: 117–213, https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.030.2019.Search in Google Scholar
Bulatova, L.A. and Lavrenchenko, L. (2005). Possible karyological affinities of small mammals from North of the Ethiopian Plateau. In: Huber, B.A., Sinclair, B.J., and Lampe, K.-H. (Eds.), African biodiversity: molecules, organisms, ecosystems. New York: Springer, pp. 315–319.10.1007/0-387-24320-8_31Search in Google Scholar
Child, M.F. and Monadjem, A. (2016). Dendromus mystacalis, (errata version published in 2017), The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T6446A115081411, Available at: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T6446A22234993.en. (Accessed 28 April 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Churchfield, S. and Hutterer, R. (2013). Crocidura olivieri, African giant shrew. In: Happold, M., and Happold, D.C.D. (Eds.), Mammals of Africa, Volume IV: hedgehogs, shews and bats. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 118–119.Search in Google Scholar
Craig, E.W., Stanley, W.T., Kerbis-Peterhans, J.C., Bryja, J., and Meheretu, Y. (2020). Small terrestrial mammal distributions in Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia: a reassessment after 88 years. J. Mammal. 101: 634–647, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa040.Search in Google Scholar
Datiko, D., Bekele, A., and Belay, G. (2007). Feeding ecology of pest rodents from Arbaminch forest and farmlands, Ethiopia. Sinet 30: 127–134.10.4314/sinet.v30i2.18287Search in Google Scholar
De Bondi, N., White, J.G., Stevens, M., and Cooke, R. (2010). A comparison of the effectiveness of camera trapping and live trapping for sampling terrestrial small-mammal communities. Wildl. Res. 37: 456–465, https://doi.org/10.1071/wr10046.Search in Google Scholar
Dieterlen, F. (2009). Climbing mice of the genus Dendromus (Nesomyidae, Dendromurinae) in Sudan and Ethiopia, with the description of a new species. Bonn Zool Bull 56: 185–200.Search in Google Scholar
Dundas, S.J., Ruthrof, K.X., Hardy, G.E.S.J., and Fleming, P.A. (2019). Pits or pictures: a comparative study of camera traps and pitfall trapping to survey small mammals and reptiles. Wildl. Res. 46: 104–113, https://doi.org/10.1071/wr18074.Search in Google Scholar
Gottelli, D., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Marino, J., Funk, S.M., and Wang, J. (2013). Genetic structure and patterns of gene flow among populations of the endangered Ethiopian wolf. Anim. Conserv. 16: 234–247, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00591.x.Search in Google Scholar
Gray, E.L., Dennis, T.E., and Baker, A.M. (2017). Can remote infrared cameras be used to differentiate small, sympatric mammal species? A case study of the black-tailed dusky antechinus, Antechinus arktos and co-occurring small mammals in southeast Queensland, Australia. PLoS One 12: e0181592, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181592.Search in Google Scholar
Gutema, T.M., Atickem, A., Tsegaye, D., Bekele, A., Sillero-Zubiri, C., Marino, J., Kasso, M., Venkataraman, V.V., Fashing, P.J., and Stenseth, N.C. (2019). Foraging ecology of African wolves (Canis lupaster) and its implications for the conservation of Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis). R. Soc. Open Sci. 6: 190772, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190772.Search in Google Scholar
Hengsdijk, H. and de Boer, W.J. (2017). Post-harvest management and post-harvest losses of cereals in Ethiopia. Food Secur. 9: 945–958, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-017-0714-y.Search in Google Scholar
Konečný, A., Hutterer, R., Meheretu, Y., and Bryja, J. (2020). Two new species of Crocidura (Mammalia: Soricidae) from Ethiopia and updates on the Ethiopian shrew fauna. J. Vertebr. Biol. 69: 20064, https://doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20064.Search in Google Scholar
Kostin, D.S., Martynov, A.A., Komarova, V.A., Alexandrov, D.Y., Yihune, M., Kasso, M., Bryja, J., and Lavrenchenko, L.A. (2020). Rodents of Choke Mountain and surrounding areas (Ethiopia): the Blue Nile gorge as a strong biogeographic barrier. J. Vertebr. Biol. 69: 20016, https://doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20016.Search in Google Scholar
Lavrenchenko, L. (2016a). Arvicanthis abyssinicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T2144A22460675, Available at: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T2144A22460675.en. (Accessed 15 July 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Lavrenchenko, L. (2016b). Dendromus lovati. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T6442A22235513, Available at: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T6442A22235513.en. (Accessed 24 April 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Lavrenchenko, L. (2016c). Mus mahomet. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T13967A115117257, Available at: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T13967A22404191.en. (Accessed 24 July 2021).Search in Google Scholar
Lavrenchenko, L.A. and Bekele, A. (2017). Diversity and conservation of Ethiopian mammals: what have we learned in 30 years? Ethiop. J. Biol. Sci. 16: 1–20.Search in Google Scholar
Lavrenchenko, L.A., Voyta, L.L., and Hutterer, R. (2016). Diversity of shrews in Ethiopia, with the description of two new species of Crocidura (Mammalia: Lipotyphla: Soricidae). Zootaxa 4196: 38–60, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4196.1.2.Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y. and Leirs, H. (2019). Raptor perch sites for biological control of agricultural pest rodents. In: Nyssen, J., Jacob, M., and Frankl, A. (Eds.), Geotrekking in Ethiopia’s tropical mountains: the Dogu’a Tembien district. Switzerland: Springer Nature, pp. 279–292.10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_18Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y., Leirs, H., Welegerima, K., Breno, M., Tomas, Z., Kidane, D., Girmay, K., and Goüy de Bellocq, J. (2013). Bartonella prevalence and genetic diversity in small mammals from Ethiopia. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 13: 164–175, https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2012.1004.Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y., Sluydts, V., Welegerima, K., Bauer, H., Teferi, M., Yirga, G., Mulungu, L., Haile, M., Nyssen, J., Deckers, J., et al. (2014). Rodent abundance, stone bund density and its effects on crop damage in the Tigray highlands, Ethiopia. Crop Protect. 55: 61–67, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2013.10.016.Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y., Welegerima, K., Sluydts, V., Bauer, H., Gebrehiwot, K., Deckers, J., Makundi, R., and Leirs, H. (2015). Reproduction and survival of rodents in crop fields: the effects of rainfall, crop stage and stone-bund density. Wildl. Res. 42: 158–164, https://doi.org/10.1071/wr14121.Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y., Čížková, D., Těšíková, J., Welegerima, K., Tomas, Z., Kidane, D., Girmay, K., Schmidt-Chanasit, J., Bryja, J., Günther, S., et al. (2012). High diversity of RNA viruses in rodents, Ethiopia. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 18: 2047–2050, https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1812.120596.Search in Google Scholar
Meheretu, Y., Granberg, Å., Berhane, G., Khalil, H., Lwande, O.W., Mitiku, M., Welegerima, K., de Bellocq, J.G., Bryja, J., Abreha, H., et al. (2021). Prevalence of orthohantavirus-reactive antibodies in humans and peri-domestic rodents in northern Ethiopia. Viruses 13: 1054, https://doi.org/10.3390/v13061054.Search in Google Scholar
Mizerovská, D., Mikula, O., Meheretu, Y., Bartáková, V., Bryjová, A., Kostin, D.S., Šumbera, R., Lavrenchenko, L.A., and Bryja, J. (2020). Integrative taxonomic revision of the Ethiopian endemic rodent genus Stenocephalemys (Muridae: Murinae: Praomyini) with the description of two new species. J. Vertebr. Biol. 69: 20031, https://doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20031.Search in Google Scholar
Mori, E. and Lovari, S. (2014). Sexual size monomorphism in the crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata). Mamm. Biol. 79: 157–160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.07.077.Search in Google Scholar
Noack, D., Goeijenbier, M., Reusken, C.B.E.M., Koopmans, M.P.G., and Rockx, B.H. (2020). Orthohantavirus pathogenesis and cell tropism. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10: 399, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00399.Search in Google Scholar
Rendall, A.R., Sutherland, D.R., Cooke, R., and White, J. (2014). Camera trapping: a contemporary approach to monitoring invasive rodents in high conservation priority ecosystems. PLoS One 9: e86592, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086592.Search in Google Scholar
Shenkut, M., Mebrate, A., and Balakrishnan, M. (2006). Distribution and abundance of rodents in farmlands: a case study in Alleltu Woreda, Ethiopia. Sinet 29: 63–70.10.4314/sinet.v29i1.18260Search in Google Scholar
Tamrat, M., Atickem, A., Tsegaye, D., Nguyen, N., Bekele, A., Evangelista, P., Fashing, P.J., and Stenseth, N.C. (2020). Human–wildlife conflict and coexistence: a case study from Senkele Swayne’s Hartebeest Sanctuary in Ethiopia. Wildl. Biol. 2020: wlb.00712, https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00712.Search in Google Scholar
Teme, A.K., Wale, M., Beyene, B., Assefa, A., and Tesfahunegny, W. (2018). Assessment of the wildlife and ecosystem status of Choke mountain, north western Ethiopia. Biol. Divers. Conserv. 11: 125–132.Search in Google Scholar
Viviano, A., Amori, G., Luiselli, L., Oebel, H., Bahleman, F., and Mori, E. (2020). Blessing the rains down in Africa: spatiotemporal behaviour of the crested porcupine Hystrix cristata (Mammalia: Rodentia) in the rainy and dry seasons, in the African savannah. Trop. Zool. 33: 113–124, https://doi.org/10.4081/tz.2020.80.Search in Google Scholar
Voelker, G., Huntley, J.W., Bryja, J., Denys, C., Šumbera, R., Demos, T.C., Lavrenchenko, L., Nicolas, V., Gnoske, T.P., and Kerbis Peterhans, J.C. (2021). Molecular systematics and biogeographic history of the African climbing-mouse complex (Dendromus). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 161: 107166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107166.Search in Google Scholar
Welegerima, K., Meheretu, Y., Haileselassie, T.H., Gebre, B., Kidane, D., Massawe, A.W., Mbije, N.E., and Makund, R.H. (2020). Abundance and microhabitat use of rodent species in crop fields and bushland in Ethiopia. J. Vertebr. Biol. 69: 20054, https://doi.org/10.25225/jvb.20054.Search in Google Scholar
Wilson, D.E., Lacher, T.E., and Mittermeier, R.A. (2017), Handbook of the mammals of the world, vol. 7: rodents II. Barcelona: Lynx Editions, p. 1008.Search in Google Scholar
Yalden, D.W., Largen, M.J., and Kock, D. (1976). Catalogue of the mammals of Ethiopia. Insectivora and Rodentia. Ital. J. Zool. 8: 1–118, https://doi.org/10.1080/03749444.1976.10736830.Search in Google Scholar
Yalden, D.W., Largen, M.J., Kock, D., and Hillman, J.C. (1996). Catalogue of the mammals of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Revised checklist, zoogeography and conservation. Trop. Zool. 9: 73–164, https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.1996.10539304.Search in Google Scholar
Yenealem, A. (2019). Abundance and distribution, of small mammals. In: Guna mountain community conservation area, south Gondar, Ethiopia, M.Sc. Thesis. Ethiopia: Bahir Dar University.Search in Google Scholar
Yihune, M. and Bekele, A. (2014). Feeding ecology of the Ethiopian wolf in the simien mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Afr. J. Ecol. 52: 484–490, https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12150.Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
