Small rodents along a ground-cover gradient in coastal Kenya

Abstract

Rodent communities were live-trapped at five sites in coastal Kenya during
January and February 1995. Six species were found, and species richness
was higher in the tree-covered habitats than in the tree-less ones. Rodent species
were segregated at the microhabitat level. Cover by tree, by shrub, and by grass,
were the most important habitat characteristics affecting species distribution.
Species living in tree-covered habitats differed from those of the original coastal
forests. These preliminary results support the conclusion that forest reclamation
in coastal Africa leads to an increase in generalist species of rodents at the
expense of the specialists.
KEY WORDS: rodents, habitat preference, ecology, Kenya.