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Do farming practices influence population dynamics of rodents? A case study of the multimammate field rats, Mastomys natalensis , in Tanzania
Author(s) -
Massawe A. W.,
Rwamugira W.,
Leirs H.,
Makundi R. H.,
Mulungu Loth S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2006.00709.x
Subject(s) - tanzania , pest analysis , agriculture , integrated pest management , population , geography , agricultural science , agroforestry , biology , horticulture , ecology , sociology , demography , archaeology , environmental planning
A capture-mark-recapture study was conducted in crop fields in Morogoro, Tanzania, to investigate how the popu- lation dynamics of multimammate field rats, Mastomys natalensis, was influenced by the commonly practised land preparation methods and cropping systems. Two land pre- paration methods (tractor ploughing and slash and burn) and two cropping systems (mono-cropping with maize and inter-cropping with maize and beans) were investigated in a Complete Randomized Design experiment with 2 · 2 fac- tors, and two 0.5 ha replicates per treatment. Mastomys natalensis comprised 97.8% of the abundance of the three rodent species captured in the study area. The slash and burned fields had higher rodent population densities than tractor ploughed fields (P < 0.05). Recruitment rates were higher in the slash and burn fields than in the tractor ploughed fields, suggesting that the former were more favourable habitats for M. natalensis. Land preparation methods appeared to influence the population dynamics of M. natalensis through recruitment of new individuals in the population and most probably survival. Apart from the temporal changes in population density, which were reflected in both tractor ploughed and slash and burn fields, cropping systems (mono- and inter-crop) had little effect on the population dynamics of M. natalensis (F(1,8) ¼ 6.50; P > 0.05). The study shows that land preparation methods should be considered a component of rodent pest manage- ment in ecologically based or integrated management practices. In maize fields in Tanzania, the crop is most sus- ceptible to damage by M. natalensis in the first 2 weeks after planting, and therefore, lower densities of rodents will result into lower crop damage in tractor ploughed fields.