Rodent communities in a neglected grassland landscape: Investigating species-specific responses of grassland rodents to habitat type and shrub presence
{"title":"Rodent communities in a neglected grassland landscape: Investigating species-specific responses of grassland rodents to habitat type and shrub presence","authors":"Aditya Ganesh , Arjun Kannan , T. Ganesh","doi":"10.1016/j.jaridenv.2024.105156","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Arid grasslands worldwide are transitioning to scrublands due to shrub encroachment, resulting in habitats with varying shrub cover. Shrubs play a crucial role in grassland ecosystems, offering trade-offs to rodents in terms of visibility, shelter, and food availability, thereby affecting their occurrence and distribution. This study explores the link between habitat characteristics and rodent activity and density, focusing on shrub presence. In the Tirunelveli district of southern India, we measured rodent density and activity across three grassland types with increasing shrub presence. Our findings reveal species-specific responses to shrub density. The Soft-furred rat (<em>Millardia meltada</em>) dominated, showing adaptability to different shrub levels, while the black rat (<em>Rattus Rattus</em>) was least represented. Fine-scale analysis indicates a positive association between shrub presence and rodent captures. Grassland obligate species like the Indian gerbil (<em>Tatera indica</em>) exhibited reduced activity in densely shrubbed sites, whereas semi-arboreal species like the Indian palm squirrel (<em>Funumbulus palmarum</em>) showed increased activity. This study underscores the importance of considering habitat structure in grassland ecosystem management for the conservation of rodent diversity and ecosystem health.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51080,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Arid Environments","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Arid Environments","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196324000363","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Arid grasslands worldwide are transitioning to scrublands due to shrub encroachment, resulting in habitats with varying shrub cover. Shrubs play a crucial role in grassland ecosystems, offering trade-offs to rodents in terms of visibility, shelter, and food availability, thereby affecting their occurrence and distribution. This study explores the link between habitat characteristics and rodent activity and density, focusing on shrub presence. In the Tirunelveli district of southern India, we measured rodent density and activity across three grassland types with increasing shrub presence. Our findings reveal species-specific responses to shrub density. The Soft-furred rat (Millardia meltada) dominated, showing adaptability to different shrub levels, while the black rat (Rattus Rattus) was least represented. Fine-scale analysis indicates a positive association between shrub presence and rodent captures. Grassland obligate species like the Indian gerbil (Tatera indica) exhibited reduced activity in densely shrubbed sites, whereas semi-arboreal species like the Indian palm squirrel (Funumbulus palmarum) showed increased activity. This study underscores the importance of considering habitat structure in grassland ecosystem management for the conservation of rodent diversity and ecosystem health.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Arid Environments is an international journal publishing original scientific and technical research articles on physical, biological and cultural aspects of arid, semi-arid, and desert environments. As a forum of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue it addresses research on all aspects of arid environments and their past, present and future use.