Vegetation structure shapes small mammal communities in African savannas

dc.contributor.authorLoggins, Anne A.
dc.contributor.authorMonadjem, Ara
dc.contributor.authorKruger, Laurence M.
dc.contributor.authorReichert, Brian E.
dc.contributor.authorMcCleery, Robert A.
dc.date.accessioned2020-06-11T12:57:05Z
dc.date.issued2019-07
dc.description.abstractDisturbance by large herbivores, fires, and humans shapes the structure of savannas, altering the amount of woody vegetation and grass. Due to change in the intensity and frequency of these disturbances, savannas are shifting toward grass-dominated or shrub-dominated systems, likely altering animal communities. Small mammals are critical components of savannas, and their distributions likely are affected by these ecosystem-wide changes in vegetative cover. We assessed the responses of small mammals to a gradient of woody cover in low-lying savannas of southeastern Africa. In Kruger National Park (South Africa) and in three nearby reserves (Eswatini), we livetrapped for over 2 years to build multispecies occupancy models that assessed the responses of the small mammal community to grass and woody cover. Overall, whole-community occupancy increased with grass biomass. More species responded positively to woody cover than to grass biomass, but woody cover was associated with reduced occurrence of one species (Mastomys natalensis). Our results suggest that an increase in grass biomass enhances whole-community occupancy of small mammals, but regional diversity is likely to be higher in areas that contain patches of high grass biomass as well as patches of woody cover.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_ZA
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_ZA
dc.description.embargo2020-07-27
dc.description.librarianhj2020en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe University of Florida Center for African Studies, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, NSF IRES (No. 1459882), NSF OISE (No. 1549523), NSF IIA (No. 1130929), NSF DBI (No. 1418914) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project FLA-WEC-005125.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://academic.oup.com/jmammalen_ZA
dc.identifier.citation2019, 'Vegetation structure shapes small mammal communities in African savannas', Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. 1243–1252, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz100.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0022-2372 (online)
dc.identifier.issn1545-1542 (print)
dc.identifier.other10.1093/jmammal/gyz100
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/74969
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen_ZA
dc.rights© 2019 American Society of Mammalogists. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Mammalogy following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version: Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. 1243–1252, 2019, doi : 10.1093/jmammal/gyz100 is available online at : http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org.en_ZA
dc.subjectGrassen_ZA
dc.subjectOccupancy modelingen_ZA
dc.subjectRodentiaen_ZA
dc.subjectShrub encroachmenten_ZA
dc.titleVegetation structure shapes small mammal communities in African savannasen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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