Species composition and community structure of small pest rodents (Muridae) in cultivated and fallow fields in maize-growing areas in Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda.

ABSTRACT: Pest rodents remain key biotic constraints to cereal crops production in the East African region where they occur, especially in seasons of outbreaks. Despite that, Uganda has scant information on rodents as crop pests to guide effective management strategies.A capture-mark-recapture (CMR) technique was employed to study the ecology of small rodents, specifically to establish the species composition and community structure in a maize-based agro ecosystem. Trapping of small rodents was conducted in permanent fallow land and cultivated fields, with each category replicated twice making four study grids. At each field, a 60 × 60 m grid was measured and marked with permanent trapping points spaced at 10 × 10 m, making a total of 49 trapping points/grids. Trapping was conducted monthly at 4-wee

SUBMITTER: Mayamba A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6635943 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature