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Bekele, Afework
- Spatial Dynamics of Rodent Population Trends in the Afro-Alpine Moorlands of the Bale Mountains National Park, South-Eastern Ethiopia
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Authors
Affiliations
1 Department of Zoological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
1 Department of Zoological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
Source
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, Vol 13, No 4 (2014), Pagination: 719-723Abstract
The main objective of this paper is explaining the spatial dynamics of rodent population in the Afro-alpine moorlands of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP). While assessing patterns of rodent abundance, species-specific relationships of abundance with habitat features were evaluated. The habitat variables were percent cover of vegetation and other structural features of the environment. The importance of habitat variables in explaining species-specific patterns in abundance was evaluated using regression modelling. The models were also used to make predictions and corroborate predictions. Percent cover of Alchemilla herbs came out to be the only habitat feature with significant contribution to the predictive value of each model built separately for Arvicanthis blicki, Lophuromys melanonyx and Stenocephalemys albocaudata. Each model then was used to produce estimates of abundance of each species using habitat data collected in 2007 and 2008. The resulting estimates correlated at high statistical significance with what was observed on the ground in both the years.Keywords
Afro-Alpine Moorlands, Abundance, Rodents, Spatial Dynamics.- Indicators of Species Richness of the Raptor Guild of the Carnivore Community of Afro-Alpine Habitats in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia
Abstract Views :156 |
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Authors
Affiliations
1 Department of Zoological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
1 Department of Zoological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
Source
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, Vol 13, No 3 (2014), Pagination: 457-464Abstract
Indicator species may provide useful substitute for large scale surveys to monitor biodiversity. We conducted surveys in the Afro-alpine habitats of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) with the objective of identifying indicators for the species richness of the raptor guild. Raptors were counted by scan sampling technique from a suitable vintage point. Three classes of 18 sample units grouped according to the variability of the moorland ecosystem in the magnitude of process variables important for raptor species richness were used in determining the indicator value of species as a function of their abundance concentration and the percentage of species occurrence per sample group. This procedure determined indicator values for all species in the resident raptor community. Comparison with randomly expected values demonstrated that only Aquila verreauxii and A. chrysaetos have indicator values that were significantly larger than the randomly expected values. The species richness estimated using the abundances of these two species predicted the observed species richness of the whole community in a linear regression model that explained 66% of the deviance in the data set. Furthermore, the species richness of the community predicted by process variables had correlation of very high significance with that predicted by the indicator species. We have thus identified two indicator species to a raptor guild of the BMNP and demonstrated that these two species encapsulated most of the information regarding the species richness response of the guild to key process variables in the Afro-alpine moorland ecosystem. Our findings contribute significantly to current and future efforts of monitoring the biodiversity of the park providing a cheap and quick means of data generation relevant for making management decisions.Keywords
Raptor Guild, Species Richness, Indicator Species.- Factors that Affect the Species Richness of the Raptor Guild of the Carnivore Community in the Afro-Alpine Sections of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP)
Abstract Views :168 |
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Authors
Affiliations
1 Department of Biology, Addis Ababa University, ET
2 Addis Ababa, Semen Mazegaja, ET
3 Fauna and Flora International, Cambridge, GB
4 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
1 Department of Biology, Addis Ababa University, ET
2 Addis Ababa, Semen Mazegaja, ET
3 Fauna and Flora International, Cambridge, GB
4 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
Source
Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, Vol 13, No 2 (2014), Pagination: 303-308Abstract
The Afro-alpine moorlands of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) constitute a diverse guild of avian carnivores. The response of the species richness of this guild to ecological processes is evaluated in this paper. Importance of elevation, topographic physical features, patch heterogeneity of habitat and prey were evaluated in explaining the species richness of the guild of diurnal raptors. The spatial variation in the moorland ecosystem as result of associations of these explanatory process variables was determined through a Principal Component Analysis. This showed there were three spatial clusters of census patches that held significantly different number of species of the guild. Importance of the variables that defined the spatial variability of the ecosystem in explaining the changes in the species richness of the raptor guild was explored through simple correlation analyses and step-wise multiple linear regression that made use of PCA components of covarying explanatory variables. The first axes of the PCA mainly defined by elevation, patch physical features, habitat heterogeneity, diversity of relatively small birds and relatively large sized avian and mammalian prey was selected as a significant predictor. In this model, species richness responded negatively to the environmental variables. Heterogeneity of patches in vegetation type and species richness of prey communities that included birds and mammals such as hare and hyrax affected the species richness of the raptors significantly positively. A simple linear regression model showed interspecific niche overlap declined as a function of species richness.Keywords
Bale Mountains National Park, Raptor Guild, Species Richness, Afro-Alpine Moorlands.- Prey Abundance and Patch Usage for Foraging by Buteo augur in the Afro-Alpine Habitats of the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP), Ethiopia
Abstract Views :165 |
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Authors
Affiliations
1 Addis Ababa University, Department of Biology, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB
1 Addis Ababa University, Department of Biology, ET
2 Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, GB