The role of rodents in the conservation of endangered species in the Ethiopian highlands

Authors

  • Anagaw Atickem Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University
  • Nils Chr. Stenseth Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo

Keywords:

Afroalpine habitat, birds of prey, Ethiopian highlands, Ethiopian wolf, rodents.

Abstract

The Ethiopian highlands is the largest Afroalpine habitat on the African continent contributing 80 % of the land above 3,000 masl on the continent. The Ethiopian highlands are part of Conservation International’s Eastern Afro-Montane Biodiversity Hotspot supporting a large number of endemic mammal and bird species. In the highlands, rodent species are key for the survival of many species including the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) and over 25 species of diurnal raptors. However, increasing agricultural activities and livestock grazing affect rodent density and distribution through degrading their habitat and disrupting their reproductive cycle. As human settlement expands into the Ethiopian wolf range, it also attracts the African wolf (Canis lupaster) towards the core area of the Ethiopian wolf. The African wolf was recently reported to affect the survival of the Ethiopian wolf though exploitative and interference competition. Along with all the anthropogenic effects, climate change may further threaten the rodent abundance of the Ethiopian highlands through altering the grassland vegetation cover, the main forage of the rodents. Polices and strategies for the conservation management of the Ethiopian highlands should consider rodents as keystone prey playing a critical role for the survival of a large number of wildlife species.

References

ALEMU, M., K. V. SURYABHAGAVAN, AND M. BALAKRISHINAN. 2012. Assessment of cover change in the Harenna habitats in Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, uising GIS and remote sensing. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 38:39-45.

ASHENAFI Z. T., N. LEADER-WILLIAMS, AND T. COULSON. 2012. Consequences of human land use for an Afro-alpine ecological community in Ethiopia. Conservation and Society 10:209-216.

ASHENAFI, Z. T., T. COULSON, C. SILLERO-ZUBIRI, AND N. LEADER-WILLIAMS. 2005. Behaviour and ecology of the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis in a human-dominated landscape outside protected areas. Animal Conservation 8:113–121.

BURGIN, C. J., J. P. COLELLA, P. L. KAHN, AND N. S. UPHAM. 2018. How many species of mammals are there? Journal of Mammalogy 99:1–14.

BRYJA, J., Y. MEHERETU, R. ŠUMBERA, AND L. A. LAVRENCHENKO. 2019. Annotated checklist, taxonomy and distribution of rodents in Ethiopia. Folia zoologica 683:117–213.

CHALA, D., ET AL. 2016. Good-bye to tropical alpine plant giants under warmer climates? Loss of range and genetic diversity in Lobelia rhynchopetalum. Ecology and Evolution 6:8931–8941.

CLOUET, M., C. BARRAU, AND J. GOAR. 2000. The diurnal Afro-alpine raptor community of the Ethiopian Highlands. Ostrich 71:380–384.

COLLES, A., L. H. LIOW, AND A. PRINZING. 2009. Are specialists at risk under environmental change? Neoecological, paleoecological and phylogenetic approaches. Ecology Letters 128:849–863.

DAVIDSON, A. D., AND D. LIGHTFOOT. 2008. Burrowing rodents increase landscape heterogeneity in a desert grassland. Journal of Arid Environments 727:1133–1145.

GALIANO, D., ET AL. 2014. Effects of rodents on plant cover, soil hardness, and soil nutrient content: A case study on tuco-tucos Ctenomys minutus. Acta Theriologica 59:583–587.

GRANJON, L., AND M. TRAORE. 2007. Prey selection by barn owls in relation to small mammal community and population structure in a Sahelian agro-ecosystem. Journal of Tropical Ecology 23:199–208.

GUTEMA, T. M., ET AL. 2018. Competition between sympatric wolf taxa: an example involving African and Ethiopian wolves. Royal Society Open Science 5:172207.

GUTEMA, T. M., ET AL. 2019. Foraging ecology of African wolves Canis lupaster and its implications for the conservation of Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis. Royal Society Open Science 6:190772.

HILLMAN, J. C. 1986. Conservation in Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. Oryx 20:89-94.

HOFMANN, C., ET AL. 1997. Timing of the Ethiopian flood basalt event and implications for plume birth and global change. Nature 389:838–841.

HOFFMANN, A., AND U. ZELLER. 2005. Influence of variations in land use intensity on species diversity and abundance of small mammals in the Nama Karoo, Namibia. Belgian Journal of Zoology 135:91–96.

INGLES, L. G. 1967. Some mammalian adaptations to deserts. The American Biology Teacher 29:646–655.

IUCN, SSC CANID SPECIALIST GROUP. 2011. Strategic plan for Ethiopian wolf conservation. Oxford, United Kingdom: IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group.

JOHNSON, N., ET AL. 2010. A new outbreak of rabies in rare Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis. Archives of Virology 155:1175–1177.

KIDANE, Y. O., M. J. STEINBAUER, AND C. BEIERKUHNLEIN. 2019. Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure. Global Ecology and Conservation 19:e00670.

KOTLER, B. P., J. S. BROWN, AND W. A. MITCHELL. 1994. The role of predation in shaping the behaviour, morphology and community organization of desert rodents. Australian Journal of Zoology 42:449–466.

LAVRENCHENKO, L. A., ET AL. 2014. Genetic and cytogenetic variation of African root-rats Tachyoryctes splendens Mammalia: Rodentia from Ethiopia. Russian Journal of Theriology 13:109–118.

MARINO, J. 2003. Spatial ecology of the Ethiopian wolf, Canis simensis. Ph. D. thesis, Linacre College, University of Oxford.

MEZGEBU, A., AND G. WORKINEH. 2017. Changes and drivers of afro-alpine forest ecosystem: future trajectories and management strategies in Bale eco-region, Ethiopia. Ecological Processes 6:42.

MOORHEAD, L. C. 2017. Effects of rodents on ecosystem structure and function. Ph. D. thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

NOWAK, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World. 6th Ed. The John Hopkins University Press, London.

NYIRENDA, V. R., ET AL. 2020. Rodent assemblages in the mosaic of habitat types in the Zambezian Bioregion. Diversity 12:365.

RAZGOUR, O., M. KASSO, H. SANTOS, AND J. JUSTE. 2021. Up in the air: Threats to Afromontane biodiversity from climate change and habitat loss revealed by genetic monitoring of the Ethiopian Highlands bat. Evolutionary Applications 14:794–806.

RUENESS, E. K., ET AL. 2011. The cryptic African wolf: Canis aureus lupaster is not a golden jackal and is not endemic to Egypt. Plos One 61:e16385.

SEGURA, C., M., FERICHE, J. M. PLEGUEZUELOS, AND X. SANTOS. 2007. Specialist and generalist species in habitat use: Implications for conservation assessment in snakes. Journal of Natural History 4141:2765–2774.

SHIMELIS, A. 2008. Prey-predator raptor dynamics in the AfroAlpine habitats of the Bale Mountains National Park, South Eastern Ethiopia. Ph. D. thesis, Addis Ababa University. Addis Ababa, Etiopia.

SILLERO-ZUBIRI, C., F. H. TATTERSALL, AND D. W. MACDONALD. 1995. Habitat selection and daily activity of giant molerats Tachyoryctes macrocephalus: Significance to the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis in the Afroalpine ecosystem. Biological Conservation. 72:77–84.

SIEBERT, S., AND S. RAMDHANI. 2004. The Bale Mountains of Ethiopia: feature. Veld Flora 90:54–59.

SILLERO-ZUBIRI, C., F. H. TATTERSALL, AND D. MACDONALD. 2008. Bale Mountain rodent communities and their relevance to the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis). African Journal of Ecology 33:301–320.

SILLERO-ZUBIRI, C., AND D. GOTTELLI. 1995. Diet and feeding behavior of Ethiopian wolves Canis simensis. Journal of Mammalogy 762:531–541.

STEPHENS, P. A., C. A. D’SA, C. SILLERO-ZUBIRI, AND N. LEADER-WILLIAMS. 2001. Impact of ivestock and settlement on the large mammalian wildlife of Bale Mountains National Ark, Southern Ethiopia. Biological Conservation 100:307–322.

TALLENTS, L. A. 2007. Determinants of reproductive success in Ethiopian Wolves. Ph. D. thesis, University of Oxford, U.K.

TSCHUMI, M., ET AL. 2018. Rodents, not birds, dominate predation-related ecosystem services and disservices in vertebrate communities of agricultural landscapes. Oecologia 188:863–873.

VAUGHAN, J. A., RYAN J. M., AND N. J. CZAPLEWSIKI. 2000. Mammalogy. 4th Edn., Harcourt Inc. London, U.K.

VIAL, F., D. W. MACDONALD, AND D. T. HAYDON. 2011. Response of endemic afroalpine rodents to the removal of livestock grazing pressure. Current Zoology 57:741–750.

VIRANTA, S., A., ATICKEM, W. LARS, AND N. C. STENSETH. 2017. Rediscovering a forgotten canid species. BMC Zoology 2:6.

WOLF, C., AND W. J. RIPPLE. 2017. Range contractions of the world’s large carnivores. Royal Society Open Science 4:170052.

YALDEN, D. W. 1985. Tachyoryctes macrocephalus. Mammalian Species 237:1–3.

YALDEN, D. W., AND M. J. LARGEN. 1992. The endemic mammals of Ethiopia. Mammal Review 22:115–150.

YIHUNE, M., AND A. BEKELE. 2014. Feeding ecology of the Ethiopian wolf in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia. African journal of Ecology 52:484–490.

Downloads

Published

2022-01-04

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Special Contribution

License

THERYA is based on its open access policy allowing free download of the complete contents of the magazine in digital format. It also authorizes the author to place the article in the format published by the magazine on your personal website, or in an open access repository, distribute copies of the article published in electronic or printed format that the author deems appropriate, and reuse part or whole article in own articles or future books, giving the corresponding credits.