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Animal Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western Kentucky University

2015

Knobthorn

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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences

Seed Preference Trials Of Namaqua Rock Mice And Rodent Density In The Lowveld Savanna Of South Africa, Whitney L. Walker May 2015

Seed Preference Trials Of Namaqua Rock Mice And Rodent Density In The Lowveld Savanna Of South Africa, Whitney L. Walker

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Large trees important in the South African savanna are in decline. Initially, climate change and elephants were thought to be the cause. However, all reasons for the decline are unknown. I investigated how Namaqua rock mice potentially affect recruitment of tree seedlings through seed predation in South Africa. I used live traps to capture rodents during the dry season of June-August on Balule Nature Reserve (BNR). I exposed the mice to seed preference trials in enclosures to determine if they would eat seeds of three target tree species; marula (Sclerocarya birrea), knobthorn acacia (Acacia nigrescens), and …