Species composition of field rodents in rice-vegetable cropping system at upper Brahmaputra valley zone, Assam

Abstract

A study on species composition of field rodents in rice-vegetable cropping system was carried out at three locations of UBVZ, Assam during 2015-17, revealed five field rodent species viz., Bandicota bengalensis, B. bengalensis indica, Mus booduga, Rattus sikkimensis and Dremomys lokriah macmillani. Out of these five species, the B. bengalensis bengalensis was recorded the most predominant species with highest mean number (9.21 + 5.50 and 6.71 + 4.6) during 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectively followed by M. booduga, D. lokriah macmillani and R. sikkimensis. The data on relative abundance in rabi vegetables also revealed B. bengalensis as the most predominant species (85.83% and 81%) followed by M. booduga (9.16% and 11%) during 2015-16 and 2016-17 respectively. In the study kharif rice showed higher (0.7901 and 0.838) species richness with species diversity (- 0.873 and -0.967) than those of rabi vegetables. Trap index data indicated that sex ratio was in favour of males.