A test of five mechanisms of species coexistence between rodents in a southern African savanna

Abstract

The operation of five different mechanisms of species coexistence in a community of rodents was examined in a semi-arid Kalahari savanna in southern Africa. The two most common species were Tatera leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and Rhabdomys pumilio (striped mouse). The mechanisms examined were habitat selection in a mosaic, microhabitat selection, spatial variation in resource abundance, temporal variation in resource abundance, and diet partitioning. The rodents were censused using...