Mammalian Diversity in Borena-Sayint National Park, South Wollo, Ethiopia
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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY Mammalian Diversity in Borena-Sayint National Park, South Wollo, Ethiopia By MESERET CHANE ALEMU A Thesis Submitted to School of Graduate Studies of the Addis Ababa University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Biology (Ecology and Systematic Zoology) Advisor: Solomon Yirga (D.Sc.) July, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................... i LIST OF TABLES ............................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................v ABBREVATION AND ACRONOMY ...................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................. vii ABSTRACT… ...................................................................ix 1. INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW ............... ..1 1.1. Introduction .............................................................................. 1 1. 2. Literature review ...................................................................... 4 1.3. Objectives of the study ............................................................ 11 1.3.1. General objective ............................................................... 11 1.3.2. Specific objectives .............................................................. 11 1.3.3. Research Questions ........................................................... 11 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA ................................ 12 2.1. Geographic location ................................................................. 12 2.2. Climate ................................................................................... 14 2.2.1. Temperature ...................................................................... 14 2.2.2. Rainfall ............................................................................. 15 2.3. Topography ............................................................................. 16 2.4. Geology and soil ...................................................................... 17 2.5. Vegetation cover ...................................................................... 17 2.5.1. Riverine forest ................................................................... 17 2.5.2. Erica woodland .................................................................. 18 2.5.3. Open grassland ................................................................. 19 i 2.6. Water sources ......................................................................... 20 2.7. Accessibility ............................................................................ 20 2.8. Demography ............................................................................ 21 2.9. Landuse patterns and Human settlement ................................ 21 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................ 24 3.1. Duration of the study .............................................................. 24 3.2. Study area sub division ........................................................... 24 3.3. Small mammal trapping .......................................................... 25 3.4. Medium and largesized mammal survey .................................. 26 3.5. Data Analysis .......................................................................... 28 4. RESULTS…………………………………………………………..30 4.1. Mammalian species Identification ............................................ 30 4.2. Species distribution of small mammals and their relative abundance in different habitats. ............................................... 31 4.3. Large and mediumsized mammals observed and identified. ..... 34 4.4. Categories of mammals ........................................................... 41 4.4.1. Occurrences of mammals .................................................. 41 4.4.2. Feeding habits of mammals in the study area .................... 43 4.5. Diversity indices for Small mammals ....................................... 44 4.6. Diversity indices for medium and largesized mammals ............ 46 5. DISCUSSION…… ...................................................................... 51 5.1. Small mammal distribution and diversity ................................ 51 5.2. Medium and largesized mammals distribution and diversity .... 55 5.3. Threats of Borena-Sayint National Park ................................... 60 5.3.1. Grass collection ................................................................. 60 5.3.2. Livestock grazing ............................................................... 61 5.3.3. Encroachment ................................................................... 61 5.3.4. Environmental degradation ............................................... 61 5.4. Tourist potential of Borena-Sayint National Park ........................ 61 6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................. 62 ii 6.1. Conclusion .............................................................................. 62 6.2. Recommendation .................................................................... 63 7. REFERENCES .......................................................................... 64 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Mammalian species identified in BSNP. ................................... 30 Table 2. Small mammals caught and their relative abundance (in brackets) at three habitats of the study area............................ 32 Table 3.Morphometric measurements of small mammals in the study area. ....................................................................................... 33 Table 4. Comparison of small mammal abundance between habitats of the study area. ........................................................................ 33 Table 5. Distribution of mammalian species in each habitat type. ......... 36 Table 6. Occurrence of mammals in the study area. ............................. 42 Table 7. Categories of mammals based on feeding habits. ..................... 44 Table 8. Diversity indices (H’) and evenness (J) for small mammal species in different habitat types of the study area. ................. 45 Table 9. Simpson’s similarity index (SI) for small mammals caught among the three habitats. ....................................................... 45 Table 10. Diversity indices (H’) and evenness (J) of medium and largesized mammalian species.. ............................................... 47 Table11. Simpson’s similarity index (SI) for medium and large sized mammals among the three habitats. ....................................... 48 Table 12. Similarity in distribution of medium and largesized mammal species between habitats. ........................................................ 49 Table 13. Comparison of medium and largesized mammalian species abundance between habitats. .................................................. 49 Table 14. Habitat association of medium and large mammals ............... 50 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. location map of the study area…………………………………….13 Figure 2. Average maximum and minimum temperatures of the study area……………………………………………………………………15 Figure 3. Average monthly rainfall of the study area……………………..16 Figure 4. The dense forest of BSNP at Bukie site…………………………18 Figure 5. Erica woodland of BSNP…………………………………………….19 Figure 6. Festuca dominated afro-alpine grassland BSNP……………………….19 Figure 7. Dry season road to campsite……………………………………….21 Figure 8. Illegal collection of by the local farmer farmers…………………………23 Figure 9. Relative abundance of small mammal species of the study area…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………34 Figure 10. Number of medium and largesized mammal species in different habitats of the study area study area………………........35 Figure 11. A bush back killed by predators……………………………………………………37 Figure 12. Bush hyrax killed by vulture(a) and bush hyrax observed(b)in the riverine forest, respectively………………….38 Figure 13. Gelada baboon in the study area……………………………………………………40 Figure 14. Types of occurrence of mammal species in the study area…..............................................................................43 Figure 15. percentage categories of mammals based on feeding habits……………………………………………………………………44 v ABBREVATION AND ACRONOMY BSNP Borena-Sayint National Park EFAP Ethiopian Forest Action Programme ENMSA Ethiopian National Meteorological Service Agency EWHNS Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society. FDRECSA Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Central Statistics Agency GPS Geographic Positioning System MoPED Ministry of Planning and Development NLFC Newhall Land and Farming Company PaDPA Amhara Regional State Park Development and Protective Authority ZNHM Zoological Natural History Museum, Addis Ababa University vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special gratitude goes to my adviser Dr. Solomon Yirga for his invaluable advice from the very start of the study to this stage and for his material and moral support. I would like to thank Ato Ketema who helped me to identify small mammals specimen collected from the study area. Addis Ababa University, Department of Biology is highly acknowledged for financial assistance, fieldwork equipment and opportunity to carry out the research. I am grateful to the following individuals and institutions: Kirkos Sub City Education Office for sponsoring me to join postgraduate program and for enough time given to accomplish of my field work. Amhara Regional State Park Development Office and Borena-Sayint