Received: 17 July 2020 | Revised: 2 January 2021 | Accepted: 6 January 2021 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7214 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Effects of forest disturbance on the fitness of an endemic rodent in a biodiversity hotspot Olaoluwa John Ademola1,2,3 | Bram Vanden Broecke4 | Herwig Leirs4 | Loth S. Mulungu5 | Apia W. Massawe1,5 | Rhodes H. Makundi1,5 1African Center of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor Abstract Technology Development, Sokoine Praomys delectorum occurs abundantly in both disturbed and intact forests in the University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania Ukaguru Mountains within the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM), Morogoro, Tanzania. 2Department of Wildlife Management, While previous studies have reported that anthropogenic disturbances such as graz- Sokoine University of Agriculture, ing, wood cutting, and harvesting have a positive effect on the population density Morogoro, Tanzania 3Department of Zoology, University of Ilorin, of P. delectorum, the impact of habitat disturbance on its demographic traits is still Ilorin, Nigeria unknown. We performed a capture– mark– recapture study in both disturbed and in- 4 Evolutionary Ecology Group, Universiteit tact forests from June 2018 to February 2020 in order to investigate the effects of Antwerpen, Wilrijk, Belgium habitat disturbance on abundance and two demographic traits: survival and matura- 5Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, tion of P. delectorum in the Ukaguru Mountains. We found no variation in abundance Tanzania or maturation between intact and disturbed forests, but habitat type did affect sur- Correspondence vival. However, this effect was sex- dependent since female survival was higher in Olaoluwa John Ademola, African Center disturbed forests, while male survival remained similar across the two forest types of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest Management and Biosensor Technology potentially due to differences in predation pressure or food availability between the Development, Sokoine University of two habitats. Continuous demographic monitoring of P. delectorum in EAM is neces- Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania. Email: [email protected] sary given that the increasing human population surrounding the landscape is lead- ing to higher deforestation rates and expansion of the pine plantation in the forest Funding information OJA received a PhD scholarship from the reserve. World Bank- supported African Center of Excellence for Innovative Rodent Pest KEYWORDS Management and Biosensor Technology Development (ACE IRPM & BTD), Sokoine biodiversity hotspot, capture– mark– recapture, Eastern Arc Mountains, population density, University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Praomys delectorum, survival and maturation rate Tanzania, and Staff Development Award from University of Ilorin, Nigeria. 1 | INTRODUCTION mammals in general, provide food for predators (ophidian, avian, and mammalian), regulate insect populations, and modify the soil Rodents, being the largest mammalian order, are well- represented (structure, organic content, and mineral cycling), which affects plant in sub- Saharan Africa with 463 species adapted to heterogeneous growth (Hayward & Phillipson, 1979). They consume and disperse environments and extent in all habitats and provide important eco- seed (Hayward & Phillipson, 1979); for instance, in forest ecosys- system services (Monadjem et al., 2015). Rodents, and other small tems, rodents are effective in seed dispersal by hoarding of seeds in This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Ecology and Evolution. 2021;11:2391–2401. www.ecolevol.org | 2391 2392 | ADEMOLA ET al. caches which is a coping strategy for fluctuating seed supply (Corlett are therefore indispensable in order to get a better understanding & Hughes, 2015). Nonetheless, most research on rodents in Africa of their population dynamics. Indeed, estimating survival and matu- has been focused on pest species, which are about 5%– 17% of the ration and combining these with the population density will provide African rodent species (Monadjem et al., 2015; Mulungu, 2017; us with more information about the impact of anthropogenic forest Swanepoel et al., 2017) and data on nonpest species are rare. This disturbance on P. delectorum populations. research bias has potential consequences on the conservation of Within this study, we investigated the effects of anthropogenic other, nonpest, rodent species in Africa (Swanepoel et al., 2017). forest disturbance on P. delectorum population density as well as sur- The Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM) region, being one of the top 25 vival and maturation in the Ukaguru Mountains within the Eastern biodiversity “hotspots” worldwide with at least 800 endemic vascular Arc Mountains, Tanzania. We hypothesize that population densities plants, and 136 endemic and 75 near- endemic vertebrates, is facing will be greater in anthropogenically disturbed forests characterized an alarming rate of anthropogenic disturbance (Burgess et al., 1998, by grazing, tree cutting, and wood collection compared with undis- 2007; Myers et al., 2000; Rovero et al., 2014). One of these endemic turbed forests; because their feeding behavior has been reported vertebrates is the delectable soft- furred mouse, Praomys delectorum, to change in response to anthropogenic disturbances which may which occurs in moist montane forests of the EAM, and the distri- have positive effects on reproductive efforts and ultimately on butional range extends westward to north- central Tanzania, and population density size (Gitonga et al., 2015). Additionally, these southward to Malawi and northern Mozambique (Bryja et al., 2014; changes in feeding behavior may also lead to a higher survival prob- Cassola, 2016; Happold, 2013; Monadjem et al., 2015). However, ability and maturation rate in disturbed areas compared with un- this species is currently threatened by habitat loss due to deforesta- disturbed forests as well. However, survival and maturation may tion and clearance of lands for agriculture throughout its distribu- vary between the wet and dry seasons, sexes, and age classes, as tional range (Cassola, 2016). has been found in other small mammals (Eccard et al., 2002; Oli & Praomys delectorum is a nocturnal, scansorial terrestrial rodent Dobson, 1999; Previtali et al., 2010). Most research on the effects feeding on seeds, fruits, and insects found in burrows associated with of habitat disturbance on the population dynamics in African small the roots of large forest trees and under fallen wood (Happold, 2013; mammals focused on the pestiferous Mastomys natalensis (Julliard Monadjem et al., 2015). They are reported to be reproductively et al., 1999; Mayamba et al., 2019; Sluydts et al., 2007), and lit- active during the late dry season and beginning of the wet season tle information is available on P. delectorum. Our study will be the after which the population size increases with a peak at the end first to look at the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on both of the wet season and individuals surviving at most for 6 months the population size and two demographic parameters of P. delecto- (Happold, 2013). Information on the social and reproductive behav- rum and is therefore important to fill this knowledge gap and will ior of P. delectorum is scarce, though other species of the same genus be useful to optimize the current conservation and management appears to be territorial (Monadjem et al., 2015). Praomys delecto- strategies of P. delectorum (Eberhardt, 1985; Oli & Dobson, 1999; rum is the dominant species in the Western Usambara Mountains in Paradis et al., 1993). northeast Tanzania (Makundi et al., 2006), and habitat disturbance has been found to affect their feeding habits, reproduction, and parasitic infection rate in the Taita Hills, Kenya (Gitonga et al., 2015, 2 | MATERIAL AND METHODS 2016a, 2016b). Additionally, habitat disturbance has an effect on the population densities as well. Indeed, densities of P. delectorum 2.1 | Study area have been reported to be higher in anthropogenically disturbed forest characterized by grazing, tree cutting, and wood collection This study was carried out in the Ukaguru Mountains within the (Cassola, 2016; Gitonga et al., 2015; Monadjem et al., 2015). This Eastern Arc Mountains, located in the Gairo District, Morogoro, may suggest that this species is able to use resources in anthropo- Tanzania (36°57′00″– 38°00′00″ East and 06°25′00″– 06°57′00″ genically disturbed habitats. However, none of these studies looked South; Figure 1). The elevation of this landscape extends up to at the demographic characteristics, which is key in order to under- 2,250 m above sea level. The estimated annual rainfall is 1,400 mm stand the viability of the populations in disturbed habitats. (Gwegime et al., 2014). The dry season is between June and Indeed, while studying the population sizes of P. delectorum in September, with maximum temperature of 21°C recorded in disturbed and undisturbed habitat will undoubtedly provide valuable January and minimum temperature of 17°C in July at lower altitudes information for the conservation of this species, it is not sufficient. (Gwegime et al., 2014). This is due to the fact that density alone is not a good estimator of The vegetation type in the Ukaguru