Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Population and breeding patterns of the pest rodent: Mastomys natalensis in a maize dominated agroecosystem in Lake Victoria crescent zone, Eastern Uganda

Population and breeding patterns of the pest rodent: Mastomys natalensis in a maize dominated... Multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) are a key rodent pest species to cereal crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at generating information on the population fluctuation and breeding patterns of M. natalensis in a maize dominated agro-ecosystem in the Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda. The area is characterised by a bimodal rainfall pattern with rains in the periods March to May and August to November. A Capture–Mark–Recapture study was established in cultivated and fallow field habitats with, in each habitat, two plots of 60 m by 60 m with 49 evenly spaced trapping points. Trapping was conducted monthly for three consecutive nights, and the study extended from January 2016 to June 2018. A Generalised Linear Mixed Model analysis showed significantly higher population density estimates (β = 0.69, p < 0.0001) in fallow land compared to cultivated fields, and also significantly higher density estimates( β = 0.75, p = 0.006) in the first wet season and lowest in the first dry season. The percentage breeding females differed significantly across months (χ 2 = 27.05, df = 11, p = 0.003) and seasons (χ 2 = 17.64, p = 0.0003). Breeding females occurred throughout all the months of trapping, but with significantly higher percentages in the months of March to July (i.e. first wet season extending to second dry season) and generally lowest in the first dry months (i.e. January and February in 2017, and February 2018). The results of this study have important consequences for the timing of control efforts, and recommends that control should be initiated during the dry seasons prior to wet seasons to counteract potential damaging population build up in later wet seasons when crop planting is expected. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Zoology Taylor & Francis

Population and breeding patterns of the pest rodent: Mastomys natalensis in a maize dominated agroecosystem in Lake Victoria crescent zone, Eastern Uganda

Download PDF

Population and breeding patterns of the pest rodent: Mastomys natalensis in a maize dominated agroecosystem in Lake Victoria crescent zone, Eastern Uganda

Abstract

Multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) are a key rodent pest species to cereal crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at generating information on the population fluctuation and breeding patterns of M. natalensis in a maize dominated agro-ecosystem in the Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda. The area is characterised by a bimodal rainfall pattern with rains in the periods March to May and August to November. A Capture–Mark–Recapture study was established in...
Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/population-and-breeding-patterns-of-the-pest-rodent-mastomys-tNDOwXjryr
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2021 Zoological Society of Southern Africa
ISSN
2224-073X
eISSN
1562-7020
DOI
10.1080/15627020.2021.1879675
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Multimammate mice (Mastomys natalensis) are a key rodent pest species to cereal crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed at generating information on the population fluctuation and breeding patterns of M. natalensis in a maize dominated agro-ecosystem in the Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda. The area is characterised by a bimodal rainfall pattern with rains in the periods March to May and August to November. A Capture–Mark–Recapture study was established in cultivated and fallow field habitats with, in each habitat, two plots of 60 m by 60 m with 49 evenly spaced trapping points. Trapping was conducted monthly for three consecutive nights, and the study extended from January 2016 to June 2018. A Generalised Linear Mixed Model analysis showed significantly higher population density estimates (β = 0.69, p < 0.0001) in fallow land compared to cultivated fields, and also significantly higher density estimates( β = 0.75, p = 0.006) in the first wet season and lowest in the first dry season. The percentage breeding females differed significantly across months (χ 2 = 27.05, df = 11, p = 0.003) and seasons (χ 2 = 17.64, p = 0.0003). Breeding females occurred throughout all the months of trapping, but with significantly higher percentages in the months of March to July (i.e. first wet season extending to second dry season) and generally lowest in the first dry months (i.e. January and February in 2017, and February 2018). The results of this study have important consequences for the timing of control efforts, and recommends that control should be initiated during the dry seasons prior to wet seasons to counteract potential damaging population build up in later wet seasons when crop planting is expected.

Journal

African Zoology – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 2, 2021

Keywords: habitat type; multimammate mouse; population abundance; seasons; sexual activity

References

  • Habitat preferences, seasonal abundance and diets of rodents in Alage, Southern Ethiopia
  • Population ecology of rodents of maize fields and grassland in central Ethiopia
  • Flea diversity and infestation prevalence on rodents in a plague-endemic region of Uganda
  • Comparison of rodent community between natural and modified habitats in Kafta-Sheraro Natural Park and its adjoining villages
  • Small rodent populations in selectively felled and mature tracks of Kibale forest, Uganda
  • Population ecology of rodents of maize fields and grassland in central Ethiopia
  • At home with Mastomys and Rattus: human-rodent interactions and potential for primary transmission of Lassa virus in domestic spaces
  • Happily together forever: temporal variation in spatial patterns and complete lack of territoriality in a promiscuous rodent
  • Mammalian reproduction: an ecological perspective
  • The geographic range: Size, shape, boundaries, and internal structure
  • On the relationship between abundance and distribution of species
  • Population density, biomass and habitat association of rodents and insectivores in Pawe area, northwestern Ethiopia
  • (Smith, 1834) in habitats affected by cultivation
  • Abundance estimators and truth: accounting for individual heterogeneity in wild house mice
  • Energy allocation in mammalian reproduction
  • Population dynamics of the Multimammate rat Mastomys huberti in an annually flooded agricultural region of central Mali
  • Habitat deterioration, habitat destruction, and metapopulation persistence in a heterogenous landscape
  • Distribution of small rodents and shrews in a low land rain forest zone of Nigeria, with observations on their reproductive biology
  • Generalized Linear Models with random effects; salamander mating revisited
  • An introduction to mode-fitting with the R-package glmm
  • Stochastic seasonality and nonlinear density-dependent factors regulate population size in an African rodent
  • Spatial dynamics of Mastomys natalensis in a field-fallow mosaic in Tanzania
  • The basis of reproductive seasonality in Mastomys rat (Rodentia: Muridea)
  • Forecasting rodent outbreaks in Africa: an ecological basis for Mastomys control in Tanzania
  • Small mammals of a woodland-savannah ecosystem in Zimbabwe
  • Abundance and diversity of rodents at the human-wildlife interface in Western Serengeti, Tanzania
  • We are connected: flea–host association networks in the plague outbreak focus in the Rift Valley, northern Tanzania
  • Species diversity and population dynamics of rodents in a farm-fallow field mosaic system in Central Tanzania
  • Reproduction and population dynamics of Mastomys natalensis Smith, 1834 in an agricultural landscape in the Western Usambara Mountains, Tanzania
  • Effect of land preparation methods on spatial distribution of rodents in crop fields
  • Do farming practices influence population dynamics of rodents? A case study of the multimammate field rats, Mastomys natalensis, in Tanzania
  • Breeding dynamics of rodent species inhabiting farm–fallow mosaic fields in central Tanzania
  • Species composition and community structure of small pest rodents (Muridae) in cultivated and fallow fields in maize-growing areas in Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda
  • Reproduction and survival of rodents in crop fields: the effects of rainfall, crop stage and stone-bund density
  • Home ranges, sex ratio and recruitment of the multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) in semi-arid areas in Tanzania
  • Relationships between seasonal changes in diet of Multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis) and its breeding patterns in semi-arid areas in Tanzania
  • Dietary differences of the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis (Smith 1834), across different habitats and seasons in Tanzania and Swaziland
  • Differences in diet between two rodent species of Mastomys natalensis and Gerbilliscus vicinus in fallow land habitat of Central Tanzania
  • Population dynamics and breeding patterns of Multimammatemouse, Mastomys natalensis (Smith 1834), in irrigated rice fields in Eastern Tanzania
  • Food preferences of the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, in irrigated rice habitats in Tanzania
  • Spatio-temporal patterns in the distribution of the multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, in rice crop and fallow land habitats in Tanzania
  • An early warning system for IPM-based rodent control in small holder farming systems in Tanzania
  • Reproductive characteristics of African small mammals
  • Population dynamics of two sympatric rodents in a variable environment: rainfall, resource availability and predation
  • A systematic review of rodent pest research in Afro-Malagasy small-holder farming systems: are we asking the right questions?
  • Habitat association of insectivores and rodents of Alatish National Park, northwestern Ethiopia
  • Diversity, distribution and abundance of rodent community in afro-alpine habitat of the simian mountains national park, Ethiopia