Population surveys of the ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi in the Lesotho Drakensberg

Abstract

Increasing environmental temperatures may lead to better survival of organisms that are usually susceptible to low temperatures. We investigated whether the numbers of the ice rat Otomys sloggetti robertsi, whose populations are regulated by low temperatures, have increased in the recent past as a consequence of current environmental warming in the Lesotho Drakensberg. Ice rats are endemic to the southern African alpine zone, are exclusively herbivorous, have a diurnal activity profile, and...