Diversity and Abundance of Rodents in the Semi-Arid Landscape of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India

Abstract

The diversity and abundance of rodents were estimated in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, from November 2007 to June 2009. A total of 41 Sherman traps were deployed at twelve sites under different vegetation types for 10 days during winter and summer, which amounted to a total effort of 4,920 trap nights and recorded eleven species of small rodents. The diversity of rodents was found to be highest in open scrub in winter, and in summer it was highest in Ziziphus mixed forest. Overall (combining both summer and winter), Mus platythrix was found to be most abundant (6.26 individuals/ha), followed by Golunda ellioti (3.41 individuals/ha). The overall rodent density was 22.92±4.65 (SE) animals/ha in winter, and 7.81±2.25 (SE) animals/ha in summer.