The diversity, distribution and relative abundance of medium and large-sized mammals in dera dilfekar block of arsi mountains national park, arsi zone, southeast Ethiopia

Abstract

The diversity of mammals varies based on variation of altitude, climate and vegetation type. The study was conducted to investigate the diversity, distribution and relative abundance of medium and large-sized mammals in Dera dilfekar block of arsi mountains national park, Arsi zone, southeast Ethiopia. The study covered two seasons extending between February and September, 2018.Three habitat types; woodland, grassland and Erica forest were identified in the Dera dilfekar block. A line transect survey method was implemented to record the diversity of mammalian species. Of the seven arbitrarily established transects, (three from the woodland and two each from the grassland and Erica forest habitats) were randomly established and permanently surveyed for two seasons. Each transect was surveyed once per season. A total of 18 species of mammals from six orders and eleven families were recorded from the area. Only four mammalian species including the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and white tailed mongoose (Ichneumiaalbicauda) were the medium sized mammals. Among the 16 large mammals, the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis) and warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) were the most abundant. Serval cat (Leptailurus serval), klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus), Spotted hyena (Crocutacrocuta), Side-striped jackal (Canis adustus), Common jackal (Canis aureus) and Abyssinian hare(Lepus habessinicus) were represented by few individuals. The Bovidae family contained the highest number of species. The highest mammalian species diversity was recorded from woodland (H’=2.011) followed by the grassland (H’=1.838) and the least was from Ericaforest (H’=1.633) during the dry season. The highest mammalian species was recorded from the grassland (H’=2.136) followed by woodland (H’=1.968) and the least was from Erica forest (H’=1.598) during the wet season. The similarity of mammalian species between the grassland and woodland was high during wet season (C=0.875), and least between Erica forest and woodland (C=0.454) in the same season. Most local communities had positive attitude toward Dera dilfekar block. In contrast, some local communities had the negative attitudes towards conservation of Dera dilfekar block due to lack of loss of job opportunity like employment in guarding the block. Awareness should be created in thelocal community about conservation of the study area.