Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover.

ABSTRACT: Human activities, directly and indirectly, impact ecological engineering activities of subterranean rodents. As engineering activities of burrowing rodents are affected by, and reciprocally affect vegetation cover via feeding, burrowing and mound building, human influence such as settlements and livestock grazing, could have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes such as bioturbation. However, there is limited understanding of the relationship between human activities and burrowing rodents. The aim of this study was therefore to understand how human activities influence the ecological engineering activity of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a subterranean rodent species endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. We colle

SUBMITTER: Asefa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10350814 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature