Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Nganga Zangada; Colette Masengo; Gédéon Bongo; Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Nganga Zangada, Colette Masengo, Gédéon Bongo, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua

Published in American Journal of Zoology (Volume 2, Issue 1)

Received: 11 December 2018 Accepted: 19 February 2019 Published: 14 March 2019

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Abstract

Slash-and-burn shifting agriculture, still common in Africa, is one of the major causes of deforestation in regions where excessive population pressure has accelerated the rate of agricultural rotation. The transformation and fragmentation of natural habitats, affects the structure and functioning of the forest ecosystem, leading to erosion and biodiversity loss. The main purpose of this research was to analyze capture, marking and recapture techniques, the specific richness of the rodent population in some habitats selected on the basis of an anthropogenic gradient in Masako forest reserve. The study was conducted in Masako Forest Reserve located in the Northeast of Kisangani city, Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and June 2018. In fact, rodents were captured in different habitats namely primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow and young fallow where square grids were installed with Sherman traps. The number of trapping days depended on the habitat and an alphanumeric code was used for each individual for identification. Five campaigns of trapping were performed while different indices of biodiversity were used to assess the specific richness. The findings showed that a total of 545 specimens were collected distributing into 10 species. The most abundant species were: Praomys spp, Hylomys spp., Deomys ferrugineus and Lophyromys dudui but Praomys spp. was the most predominant and the most motile of identified species in the studied habitat. From different similarity indices used, it was found that the secondary forest has a large number of individuals while the high number of species was observed in the secondary forest and young fallow respectively. It was observed that the most important recaptures were obtained in primary and secondary forests while in both fallows the recapture rate was weak. Thus, human activities such as slash-and-burn shifting, although modifying the environment, and also acting on relative abundance, appear at the current stage, is not significantly affecting the rodent community.

Published in	American Journal of Zoology (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
Page(s)	11-17
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Slash-and-burn Agriculture, Rodent, Specific Richness, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo

References

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[2]	Djibu D. Contribution à l’étude des peuplements des rongeurs de Masako (Kisangani, RD Congo): cas de forêt secondaire. Mémoire de Licence, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, 2007, 56pp.
[3]	Ramade I. Contribution à l’étude craniométrique de quelques espèces de Muridé (Rodentia Mammalia). Mémoire de Licence, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, 1984, 52pp.
[4]	CNUED. Approches écologiques. Ecologie et dynamique des ressources naturelles. Centre national en unité d’étude pour le développement. Congo): régime alimentaire, reproduction et structure de population. Mémoire de Licence, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, 1992, 41pp.
[5]	Juo A. S. R. and Wilding. Soils: Ecology the lowland forests of West and Central Africa. Proceedings of The Royal Society, Edinburgh, 1996, 104(B):15-29.
[6]	Katuala G. B., Hart J. A., Hutterer R., Leirs H. & Dudu A. Biodiversity and ecology of small mammals (Rodents and Shrews) of the Reserve de Faune à Okapi, DRC. Belgian Journal of Zoology, 2005, 135:191-196.
[7]	Meniko T. H. Contribution à l’étude des rongeurs terricoles (Muridae et cricetidae, Mammalia) de la Ville de Kisangani et ses environs (RD Congo): Régime alimentaire, reproduction et structure de population. Mémoire de Maîtrise, Faculté de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles Renouvelables, 2011, 132pp.
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[11]	Matlack M. Contribution à l’étude des Rongeurs terricoles (Muridea et cricetidae, Mammalia) de la ville de Kisangani et de ses environs (RD Congo): régime alimentaire, reproduction et structure de population. Mémoire de Licence, Faculté de Sciences, Université de Kisangani, 1993, 41 pp.
[12]	Murci I. Contribution à l’étude craniométrique de quelques espèces de Muridé (Rodentia, Mammalia). Mémoire de Licence, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, 1995, 52pp.
[13]	Iyongo W. M. Effets de lisière sur la biodiversité des rongeurs dans la Reserve Forestière de Masako, un écosystème fragmenté (Kisangani, RDC). Thèse de doctorat, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences, Bruxelles, Belgique, 2013.
[14]	Iyongo W. M., Visser M., Leirs H., Dudu A., Ulyel A. and Bogaert J. Etude préliminaire des effets de lisière sur quatre espèces de rongeurs dans la Reserve Forestière de Masako (Kisangani, RD Congo). Annales ISEA, 4:177-186.
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[16]	Meniko T. H. Impacts de la mobilité spécifique, de la connectivité des habitats et des activités anthropiques sur les populations de rongeurs dans la Réserve Forestière de Masako (Kisangani, RD Congo) dans un écosystème fragmenté. Thèse de doctorat, Faculté de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles Renouvelables, Kisangani (RD Congo), 2015, 212pp.
[17]	Legendre P. and Legendre L. 1998. Numerical Ecology. Developments in Environmental Modeling. Elsevier Science BV, 20, Amsterdam (Pays-Bas), 1998.
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[19]	Kadange J. Impact d’anthropisation sur les espèces de rongeurs de la réserve forestière de Masako par les techniques de capture marquage et recapture, Mémoire de Maitrise, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kisangani, Kisangani, RD Congo, 1996, 123pp.
[20]	Dudu A. M. Etude du peuplement d’insectivores et de rongeurs de la forêt ombrophile de basse altitude du Zaire (Kisangani/Masako). Thèse de doctorat: Université d’Anvers, Belgique, 1991, 171pp.
[21]	Dudu A. M. and Gevaerts H. Examen de la distribution des Muridés (Rodent, Mammalia) dans quelques associations végétales des environs de Kisangani (Zaïre). Annales des Facultés des Sciences, Kisangani, 1987, 4:103-110.
[22]	Mutombo P., Nyundai G., Malekani A., Angoyo R., Basa O., Dudu B., Amundala N., Gambalemoke S., Akaibe J., Kambale J. J., Bongo G. N., Ngbolua K. N. Diversity of rodents and shrews in Rubi-Télé Hunting Domain in the territory of Buta, Bas Uélé Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. International Journal of Zoology Studies, 2(1):89-95.

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APA Style

Nganga Zangada, Colette Masengo, Gédéon Bongo, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. (2019). Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. American Journal of Zoology, 2(1), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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ACS Style

Nganga Zangada; Colette Masengo; Gédéon Bongo; Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Am. J. Zool. 2019, 2(1), 11-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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AMA Style

Nganga Zangada, Colette Masengo, Gédéon Bongo, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Am J Zool. 2019;2(1):11-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13,
  author = {Nganga Zangada and Colette Masengo and Gédéon Bongo and Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua},
  title = {Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo},
  journal = {American Journal of Zoology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {11-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajz.20190201.13},
  abstract = {Slash-and-burn shifting agriculture, still common in Africa, is one of the major causes of deforestation in regions where excessive population pressure has accelerated the rate of agricultural rotation. The transformation and fragmentation of natural habitats, affects the structure and functioning of the forest ecosystem, leading to erosion and biodiversity loss. The main purpose of this research was to analyze capture, marking and recapture techniques, the specific richness of the rodent population in some habitats selected on the basis of an anthropogenic gradient in Masako forest reserve. The study was conducted in Masako Forest Reserve located in the Northeast of Kisangani city, Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and June 2018. In fact, rodents were captured in different habitats namely primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow and young fallow where square grids were installed with Sherman traps. The number of trapping days depended on the habitat and an alphanumeric code was used for each individual for identification. Five campaigns of trapping were performed while different indices of biodiversity were used to assess the specific richness. The findings showed that a total of 545 specimens were collected distributing into 10 species. The most abundant species were: Praomys spp, Hylomys spp., Deomys ferrugineus and Lophyromys dudui but Praomys spp. was the most predominant and the most motile of identified species in the studied habitat. From different similarity indices used, it was found that the secondary forest has a large number of individuals while the high number of species was observed in the secondary forest and young fallow respectively. It was observed that the most important recaptures were obtained in primary and secondary forests while in both fallows the recapture rate was weak. Thus, human activities such as slash-and-burn shifting, although modifying the environment, and also acting on relative abundance, appear at the current stage, is not significantly affecting the rodent community.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
AU  - Nganga Zangada
AU  - Colette Masengo
AU  - Gédéon Bongo
AU  - Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua
Y1  - 2019/03/14
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
T2  - American Journal of Zoology
JF  - American Journal of Zoology
JO  - American Journal of Zoology
SP  - 11
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-7413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
AB  - Slash-and-burn shifting agriculture, still common in Africa, is one of the major causes of deforestation in regions where excessive population pressure has accelerated the rate of agricultural rotation. The transformation and fragmentation of natural habitats, affects the structure and functioning of the forest ecosystem, leading to erosion and biodiversity loss. The main purpose of this research was to analyze capture, marking and recapture techniques, the specific richness of the rodent population in some habitats selected on the basis of an anthropogenic gradient in Masako forest reserve. The study was conducted in Masako Forest Reserve located in the Northeast of Kisangani city, Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and June 2018. In fact, rodents were captured in different habitats namely primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow and young fallow where square grids were installed with Sherman traps. The number of trapping days depended on the habitat and an alphanumeric code was used for each individual for identification. Five campaigns of trapping were performed while different indices of biodiversity were used to assess the specific richness. The findings showed that a total of 545 specimens were collected distributing into 10 species. The most abundant species were: Praomys spp, Hylomys spp., Deomys ferrugineus and Lophyromys dudui but Praomys spp. was the most predominant and the most motile of identified species in the studied habitat. From different similarity indices used, it was found that the secondary forest has a large number of individuals while the high number of species was observed in the secondary forest and young fallow respectively. It was observed that the most important recaptures were obtained in primary and secondary forests while in both fallows the recapture rate was weak. Thus, human activities such as slash-and-burn shifting, although modifying the environment, and also acting on relative abundance, appear at the current stage, is not significantly affecting the rodent community.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Nganga Zangada

Department of Agricultural Sciences, Higher Institute of Pedagogy, Gemena City, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Colette Masengo

Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Gbado-Lité, Nord Ubangi, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gédéon Bongo

Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua

Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Gbado-Lité, Nord Ubangi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Nganga Zangada, Colette Masengo, Gédéon Bongo, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. (2019). Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. American Journal of Zoology, 2(1), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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ACS Style

Nganga Zangada; Colette Masengo; Gédéon Bongo; Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Am. J. Zool. 2019, 2(1), 11-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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AMA Style

Nganga Zangada, Colette Masengo, Gédéon Bongo, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua. Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Am J Zool. 2019;2(1):11-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13,
  author = {Nganga Zangada and Colette Masengo and Gédéon Bongo and Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua},
  title = {Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo},
  journal = {American Journal of Zoology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {11-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajz.20190201.13},
  abstract = {Slash-and-burn shifting agriculture, still common in Africa, is one of the major causes of deforestation in regions where excessive population pressure has accelerated the rate of agricultural rotation. The transformation and fragmentation of natural habitats, affects the structure and functioning of the forest ecosystem, leading to erosion and biodiversity loss. The main purpose of this research was to analyze capture, marking and recapture techniques, the specific richness of the rodent population in some habitats selected on the basis of an anthropogenic gradient in Masako forest reserve. The study was conducted in Masako Forest Reserve located in the Northeast of Kisangani city, Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and June 2018. In fact, rodents were captured in different habitats namely primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow and young fallow where square grids were installed with Sherman traps. The number of trapping days depended on the habitat and an alphanumeric code was used for each individual for identification. Five campaigns of trapping were performed while different indices of biodiversity were used to assess the specific richness. The findings showed that a total of 545 specimens were collected distributing into 10 species. The most abundant species were: Praomys spp, Hylomys spp., Deomys ferrugineus and Lophyromys dudui but Praomys spp. was the most predominant and the most motile of identified species in the studied habitat. From different similarity indices used, it was found that the secondary forest has a large number of individuals while the high number of species was observed in the secondary forest and young fallow respectively. It was observed that the most important recaptures were obtained in primary and secondary forests while in both fallows the recapture rate was weak. Thus, human activities such as slash-and-burn shifting, although modifying the environment, and also acting on relative abundance, appear at the current stage, is not significantly affecting the rodent community.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Impact of Human Activities on the Rodent Species Specific Richness in the Masako Reserve Forest in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
AU  - Nganga Zangada
AU  - Colette Masengo
AU  - Gédéon Bongo
AU  - Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua
Y1  - 2019/03/14
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
T2  - American Journal of Zoology
JF  - American Journal of Zoology
JO  - American Journal of Zoology
SP  - 11
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2994-7413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajz.20190201.13
AB  - Slash-and-burn shifting agriculture, still common in Africa, is one of the major causes of deforestation in regions where excessive population pressure has accelerated the rate of agricultural rotation. The transformation and fragmentation of natural habitats, affects the structure and functioning of the forest ecosystem, leading to erosion and biodiversity loss. The main purpose of this research was to analyze capture, marking and recapture techniques, the specific richness of the rodent population in some habitats selected on the basis of an anthropogenic gradient in Masako forest reserve. The study was conducted in Masako Forest Reserve located in the Northeast of Kisangani city, Province Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo between February and June 2018. In fact, rodents were captured in different habitats namely primary forest, secondary forest, old fallow and young fallow where square grids were installed with Sherman traps. The number of trapping days depended on the habitat and an alphanumeric code was used for each individual for identification. Five campaigns of trapping were performed while different indices of biodiversity were used to assess the specific richness. The findings showed that a total of 545 specimens were collected distributing into 10 species. The most abundant species were: Praomys spp, Hylomys spp., Deomys ferrugineus and Lophyromys dudui but Praomys spp. was the most predominant and the most motile of identified species in the studied habitat. From different similarity indices used, it was found that the secondary forest has a large number of individuals while the high number of species was observed in the secondary forest and young fallow respectively. It was observed that the most important recaptures were obtained in primary and secondary forests while in both fallows the recapture rate was weak. Thus, human activities such as slash-and-burn shifting, although modifying the environment, and also acting on relative abundance, appear at the current stage, is not significantly affecting the rodent community.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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