title: Ecological role of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) in the Afroalpine ecosystem.
abstract: Rodents with prevailing subterranean activity usually play an important role in the ecosystems of which they are a part due to the combined effect of herbivory and soil perturbation. This is the case for the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. We studied the impact of root-rats on various ecosystem features within a 3.5-ha study locality dominated by Alchemilla pasture, which represents an optimal habitat for this species, in 2 periods of a year. The root-rats altered plant species composition, reducing the dominant forb, Alchemilla abyssinica, while enhancing Salvia merjame and a few other species, and reduced vegetation cover, but not the fresh plant biomass. Where burrows were abandoned by root-rats, other rodents took them over and A. abyssinica increased again. Root-rat burrowing created small-scale heterogeneity in soil compactness due to the backfilling of some unused burrow segments. Less compacted soil tended to be rich in nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, which likely affected the plant growth on sites where the vegetation has been reduced as a result of root-rat foraging and burrowing.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.|Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Šklíba
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vlasatá
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Matěj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lövy
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ema
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hrouzková
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, College of Natural and Cmputational Sciences, Mekelle University, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yonas
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meheretu
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Zoology Department, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sillero-Zubiri
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Radim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Šumbera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005002:Ethiopia; D009115:Muridae; D009584:Nitrogen; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Afroalpine; Tachyoryctes macrocephalus; ecosystem engineer; fossorial rodent; soil disturbance