Ecological role of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) in the Afroalpine ekosystem

0506404 - BC 2020 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Šklíba, Jan - Vlasatá, T. - Lövy, M. - Hrouzková, E. - Meheretu, Y. - Sillero-Zubiri, C. - Šumbera, R.
Ecological role of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) in the Afroalpine ekosystem.
Integrative Zoology. Roč. 12, č. 4 (2017), s. 333-344. ISSN 1749-4877. E-ISSN 1749-4869
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 669609 - Diversity6continents
Grant - others:GA ČR(CZ) GAP506/11/1512; GA JU(CZ) 156/2013/P; GA JU(CZ) 151/2016/P
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : Afroalpine * ecosystem engineer * fossorial rodent
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 1.856, year: 2017
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1749-4877.12241

Rodents with prevailing subterranean activity usually play an important role in the ecosystems of which they are a part due to the combined effect of herbivory and soil perturbation. This is the case for the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. We studied the impact of root-rats on various ecosystem features within a 3.5-ha study locality dominated by Alchemilla pasture, which represents an optimal habitat for this species, in 2 periods of a year. The root-rats altered plant species composition, reducing the dominant forb, Alchemilla abyssinica, while enhancing Salvia merjame and a few other species, and reduced vegetation cover, but not the fresh plant biomass. Where burrows were abandoned by root-rats, other rodents took them over and A. abyssinica increased again. Root-rat burrowing created small-scale heterogeneity in soil compactness due to the backfilling of some unused burrow segments. Less compacted soil tended to be rich in nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which likely affected the plant growth on sites where the vegetation has been reduced as a result of root-rat foraging and burrowing.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0297661