A Baseline Study on the Diversity of Rodents in Rural Mountain Areas of the Gilgit District, Pakistan
A Baseline Study on the Diversity of Rodents in Rural Mountain Areas of the Gilgit District, Pakistan
Uzma Rais1, Saeed Abbas2*, Muhammad Mushtaq1, Tariq Mehmood1,
Haider Abbas2, Syed Arif Hussain2, Rahila Tabassum3 and Syed Rizwan Abbas2
ABSTRACT
Rodents are the largest group of small mammals and are abundantly distributed in diverse types of habitats, all over the world. In Pakistan, 43 species of rodents have been reported from different types of environmental conditions and habitats, the majority being rats and mice. The study was conducted in rural areas of district Gilgit, which is a representative of the northern mountainous areas of Pakistan. Locally made metallic snap rat traps and mouse traps were used to trap rodents in different types of habitats in five specific study sites, viz. Haramosh, Bagrot, Danyore, Jalalabad and Nomal rural areas for three consecutive nights and the trap index was calculated. A total of three (3) species and 110 individuals of rodents (Rattus turkestanicus, Mus musculus and Apodemus rusiges), all belonging to the family Muridae were recorded from the study area in 2588 trap nights. Rattus turkestanicus was found to be more dominant with D=0.762, followed by Mus musculus with D=01 and Apodemus rusiges with D=0.001. In general, rodent diversity on the Simpson Scale was 22% and on the Shannon Scale it was 52%. The captured specimens were brought to the laboratory of the Department of Zoology of the PMAS Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi and the total body weight, body length, head and body length, tail length, ear length, hind foot length and the sex of the sample were recorded and identified at the species level. The proposed study provides baseline data on the faunal diversity of small rodent fauna in the study area.
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