Effects of Mining Dumpsites on the Abundance of Rodents: Luanshya, Zambia

The present study compared rodent abundance in a low-density mining dumpsite area and a non-dumpsite area in Roan Township of Luanshya district, Zambia. A mark re-capture method was used and the rodents were trapped by using Sherman traps. In each of the two habitats transects were laid down which were 50m apart in a 100m by 100m plot. Three sampling plots were made in each area. The abundance was determined by counting the individual number of rodents captured in each study area and was recorded on a recording sheet. A two way (ANOVA) in Microsoft Excel was used to determine the association of various variables. The results showed that the presence of a dumpsite had significant effect on the abundance of rodents (F=6.079, P=0.020). The non-dumpsite area recorded the highest number of rodent captures compared to the dumpsite area that recorded the least. Only three species of rodents were captured and these were Mastomys natalensis, Rattus. novergicus and Rattus rattus. A total of 29 rodents were caught with 12 from the M. natalensis, 8 from the R. norvegicus and 9 from the R. rattus species. We recommend that a more prolonged trapping effort is needed for estimating abundance, as rodents are often secretive in nature and difficult to capture.