Abundance, habitat preference and distribution of small mammals in Dinder National Park, Sudan.

摘要

The hypothesis that the small mammals are randomly distributed in the park's ecosystems, irrespective of the uncontrolled burning, was tested. The objectives were to identify these mammals, determine their abundance and map their distribution in Dinder National Park in Sudan. The Dehra (hinterland), riverine and Maya (meadows) ecosystems of Dinder National Park were studied during the dry season from January until May 2002 and in May 2005. Litter and burnt area dominated the three ecosystems. Conversely, the burnt area was high in Dehra and relatively low in the riverine and Maya because they were moist. Generally, 52% of the park's area was burnt in the dry season. Nineteen mammalian species were identified, of which 36.9% were seen in the night survey, 52.6% captured and 10.5% indicated by their signs. Ten percent of the total traps set captured animals from the riverine, 4.3% from Dehra. In the latter ecosystem, 41.3% of the capture was in burnt area, 85.7% in unburned area. In the riverine, however, 100% of the capture was from the unburned area. Only Viverridae, Felidae, Hystricidae (porcupine) and Orycteropodidae (aardvark) were positively indicated by their signs. The most abundant mammal was the common genet; the least was the fox.