By Zoe Woodgate
As 2018 draws to a closer to the end, the
mammal team wraps up its operations. The last two years have been filled with fieldwork,
data processing and analysis. The mammal team, led by Nadine Hassan and Zoe
Woodgate, have dedicated months to the project. Medium to large mammals (such
as impala) were surveyed at 30 sites, whilst small mammals (like elephant shrew)
were surveyed at 25 sites. Sadly, as sampling for small mammals requires live
trapping, it is far more dependent on climatic conditions and so we were unable
to sample the final five sites. However, the small mammal dataset was bolstered
by key museum and institutional databases.
21 400 records were used to investigate historical patterns of
small mammal diversity in South Africa.
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| Zoe Woodgate and Nadine Hassan |
41 larger mammal species were
recorded across the 30 sites using camera trapping. 270 cameras were
operational for a minimum of 30 days across all the sites, producing a dataset
of over 70 000 photographic captures. These included the more common karoo
species, such as steenbok or meerkat, and some rarities like black-footed cat.
We did not get any photographs of the critically endangered riverine rabbit, to
the disappointment of Zoe. However the diversity of species captured was
astounding, and the many antics caught on camera were a delight to all. There
was the notable absence of large carnivores (such as leopards and hyenas) from
any of the sites that were visited. Of course this is unsurprising, given that commercial
farming dominates the karoo landscape. Preliminary work on the dataset suggests
that this land use has little impact on the diversity of mammal species, as
species diversity was not affected by live stocking rates. More complex models
will tease apart the drivers of diversity in the upcoming months.
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| Having a quick munch after release |
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| Elephant shrew perched on Nadines leg |
Nadine’s work on the small mammal
dataset has been encouraging. There have been many new and exciting discoveries
A total of 11 rodents, 4 elephant-shrews and 1 shrew species were recorded.
However initial DNA work has uncovered cryptic species not thought to occur at
the 25 sites. One was the addition of two novel locations for a recently
described species- Elephantulus pilicaudus. Nadine is currently investigating
whether historical land use in the karoo shaped the present small mammal
community.
All this work would not have been possible
without the kindness and generosity of the karoo farmers. Their compassion
cannot be understated, and their love for the land was beautiful to behold. We
wish to thank them for opening their homes to us and allowing us to work on
their property. The BioGaps team have been fantastic as well, and in particular
we thank Gigi Laidler and Carol Poole for their hard-work and assistance.
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| A sneaky aardwolf answering the call of nature |
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| Smile! |
