Comparative performance of four survey methods for assessing Lilian’s Lovebird abundance in Liwonde National Park,Malawi

Monitoring abundance of threatened species is important for conservation planning. Lilian’s Lovebird Agapornis lilianae is a near-threatened small parrot found in mopane Colophospermum mopane woodland. Its population has not been investigated in any part of its range. We investigated the abundance and density of the Lilian’s Lovebird in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. Both distance sampling (line and point transects) methods and total counts (waterhole and flyway counts) were applied. The point count method gave very low numbers and was discontinued after the first year. Line transects conducted during the wet season had the highest density estimates of 17 ± 4.8 lovebirds km?2 of mopane woodland. However, number of observations per transect in each year were low. Waterhole counts had the lowest density estimates (10 ± 3.5 lovebirds km?2). Flyway counts gave an intermediate estimate (13 ± 3.0 lovebirds km?2). The total population of Lilian’s Lovebirds in Liwonde National Park is therefore estimated to be about 4 000 individuals. The use of line transect counts at the end of the rainy season is recommended for continued monitoring of Lilian’s Lovebirds abundance in Liwonde National Park.     

Feeding ecology of Lilian’s Lovebird Agapornis lilianae in Liwonde National Park,Malawi

Lilian's Lovebird Agapornis lilianae is a small, near-threatened parrot resident in mopane Colophospermum mopane woodlands. We investigated its diet and foraging behaviour in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. We expected that Lilian's Lovebirds would show little specialisation for a particular food source but generally feed on available seeds, fruits, flowers and other items as observed in other lovebirds. Lilian's Lovebirds fed on 30 different plant species. Lilian's Lovebirds were observed feeding in six habitat types in Liwonde National Park and adjacent areas during the wet season, and four in the dry season. In the wet season lovebirds (23% of observations) foraged in grassy wetland (dambo) areas the most, whilst in the dry season they foraged in grasslands with tree cover (18%) the most. In mopane woodland, foraging flock sizes differed significantly between the wet (mean = 19.8 ± 1.0 lovebirds) and dry season (mean = 33.6 ± 2.3 lovebirds). Grass seeds were lovebirds’ main food source from December to June. The nutritional analysis of preferred foods showed that grass seeds have a relatively high protein and energy content. Grass seed availability is reduced with savanna burning and so early season burning (before May–June) in areas in and outside the park is not recommended.     

Distribution of Lilian's Lovebirds in Malawi

Lilian's Lovebird Agapornis lilianae is regarded as a mopane Colophospermum mopane woodland specialist. Its global population is sparse and is spread along the Zambezi valley with little known about its current distribution and status. We explored the current distribution of Lilian's Lovebird in Malawi, and in particular focused on the distribution and habitat associations of the largest resident population in Liwonde National Park (LNP). Local birders and tourist guides provided distribution information from across Malawi. Transect walks were conducted to collect data in LNP. Five new atlas records are reported; three were within 40–56 km of the LNP population and two were over 150 km south and north of LNP, respectively. One of the sites is about 66 km from the Lilian's Lovebird population in Luangwa Valley, Zambia. New national records were evidence of the importance of seasonal movements to the species. Lilian's Lovebirds occurred throughout LNP with the highest abundance in the central section. Seasonal movements to areas outside the park were also recorded. A variety of vegetation types were used by the lovebirds, but the strongest habitat associations were with seasonally wet grasslands and not mopane woodlands as would be expected. Thus, conservation efforts should also include these other habitats.     

Sex differences in habitat use by African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Okavango Delta,Botswana: is size really the deciding factor?

Many sexually dimorphic mammals show sexual segregation of habitat use. We studied habitat selection and use by male and female elephants in the Okavango Delta, and males of different ages and therefore sizes, to assess whether size was a driving force behind any sex differences in habitat selectivity. There was variation in habitat choices, with males preferring island vegetation and mopane woodland and avoiding grassland/floodplain and Terminalia woodland; females showed no selection for or against most habitats other than selecting for mopane woodland in the rainy season. Male habitat choice changed dramatically during the dry season, when resources were most limited and there was the least sexual difference in habitat selection. Females were more selective in the flood season, when access to resources was restricted. Contrary to other studies and the forage selection hypothesis, males showed greater habitat selectivity than females, but age, and therefore size, did not affect their habitat selection. Whilst our data suggested that males were superior competitors, we could not discount that females excluded males from preferred habitats. In the Okavango Delta, habitat selection by male elephants may be more dependent on social groupings, and hence the decisions of others, than individual size and energetic requirements.     

Influence of Colophospermum mopane canopy cover on litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics in a semi‐arid African savannah

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of mopane canopy cover on litter decomposition in a semi‐arid African savannah. We used a randomized block design with five blocks of 100 × 100 m demarcated in a 10‐ha pocket of open mopane woodland. Litterbags were placed beneath large (8.3 m crown diameter) and small mopane trees (2.7 m crown diameter) and in the intercanopy area. Decomposition was fastest in the intercanopy area exposed to solar radiation (k = 0.35 year^?1), intermediate beneath small trees (k = 0.28 year^?1) and slowest beneath large trees (k = 0.23 year^?1). Soil temperatures beneath small and large trees were 3–5 and 6–9°C lower than in the intercanopy area, respectively. Bacterial and fungal counts were significantly higher (P < 0.05) beneath large than small trees and in the intercanopy area. The amount of N and P released did not vary significantly among sampling sites. Soil moisture in the dry season was similar among sampling sites but rainy‐season soil moisture was significantly greater (P < 0.05) beneath large than small trees and in the intecanopy area. Mopane canopy cover retarded litter decomposition suggesting that photodegradation could be an important factor controlling carbon turnover in semi‐arid African savannahs.     

Effects of woodland modification by African elephant Loxodonta africana on bird diversity in northern Botswana

Bird diversity was assessed by point-transect-count sampling during the dry and the wet season in riverine gallery woodland and in Colophospermum mopane woodland with different levels of elephant impact Dramatic woodland degradation did not result in a dramatic overall reduction m bird diversity, but resulted in substantial changes in bird species composition and capacity for migrant birds Less affected, more dense woodlands functioned as dry season refuges for'resident'Afrotropical species, but this function was lost in degraded woodlands In contrast, secondanzed habitat had a much higher capacity for long distance migrants in the wet season Species endemic to the sub-region and subspecies with restricted ranges centred in the area were not negatively affected by woodland degradation The cumulative interference of past and current elephant numbers with the conservation of bird diversity appears to be insignificant in northern Botswana     

The drinking habits of the Lilian's lovebird and incidents of poisoning at waterholes

Use of poison to kill wildlife is a threat to biodiversity. Lilian's lovebirds Agapornis lilianae are among the fatalities at poisoned waterholes in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. Their population in Liwonde National Park (LNP) represents about 20% of the global population. We investigated the drinking habits of Lilian's lovebird, availability of natural waterholes and occurrence of poisoning incidents in LNP. Results showed Lilian's lovebirds congregate at waterholes in the dry season with flocks ranging from 1 to 100 individuals. Significantly larger flocks were seen in the dry than the wet season. Poisoning incidents/year ranged from 1 to 8 and were highest in the dry season. Lilian's lovebirds were killed at a mean of four poisoning incidents each year between 2000 and 2012. Number of lovebirds found dead at a poisoned pool ranged from 5 to 50 individuals. Currently about 32% of the Lilian's lovebird population is threatened by poisoning. Other species were also noted. There is a need for increased efforts in preventing this lethal activity in LNP.     

Thermal biology of African lovebirds and Australian grass parakeets

We compared aspects of the thermal biology of two groups of small parrots, of similar body mass, each derived from a range of habitat types, varying in aridity, but indigenous to either southern Africa or Australia. By accounting for phylogenetic differences, we were able to question whether arid zone species have lower metabolic rates and greater thermal tolerances than mesic species in relation to the “pre-adapted” and “post-arrival adaptation” hypotheses. Four species of African lovebird (Agapornis) and four species of Australian grass parakeet (one Neopsephotus and three Neophema species) were investigated. The Rosy-faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis), Bourke's Parakeet (Neopsephotus bourkii) and the Scarlet-chested Parakeet (Neophema splendida) were categorised as arid zone species, Fischer's Lovebird (Agapornis fischeri), the Black-masked Lovebird (Agapornis personatus) and the Elegant Parakeet (Neophema elegans) as semi-arid zone species, and the Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigenis) and the Turquoise Parakeet (Neophema pulchella) as mesic zone species. Conventional and phylogenetically independent statistical methods yielded no significant differences in the basal metabolic rates of birds from different habitats or between the species assemblages from Africa and Australia.     

Effects of pruning on the concentration of trace elements in Colophospermum mopane leaves

Despite the nutritional value of Colophospermum mopane to browser's diets, there is still insufficient knowledge on the effect of browsers on concentrations of these trace elements. A field experiment was conducted in Musina Nature Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa, to determine the effect of pruning on the concentration of trace elements in mopane leaves. Samples were analysed for iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cobalt (Co), fluoride (F) and selenium (Se) using the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry technique. The effect of pruning was tested using the two‐tailed t‐test: two‐sample assuming equal variance and two‐tailed Mann–Whitney U‐test. Results showed that the concentration of trace elements in the control and pruned trees varies slightly through the year. Fe, Mn, Mo, Cu, Zn and Se are higher during leaf flush, but declined as the leaves matured and aged. This study concluded that simulated browsing had no significant effect on the concentration of trace elements in the mopane leaves. Seasonal variation in the amount of trace elements has implications on the distribution of browsers in the mopane woodland.     

Landscape-scale feeding patterns of African elephant inferred from carbon isotope analysis of feces

The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is a large-bodied, generalist herbivore that eats both browse and grass. The proportions of browse and grass consumed are largely expected to reflect the relative availability of these resources. We investigated variations in browse (C(3) biomass) and grass (C(4)) intake of the African elephant across seasons and habitats by stable carbon isotope analysis of elephant feces collected from Kruger National Park, South Africa. The results reflect a shift in diet from higher C(4) grass intake during wet season months to more C(3) browse-dominated diets in the dry season. Seasonal trends were correlated with changes in rainfall and with nitrogen (%N) content of available grasses, supporting predictions that grass is favored when its availability and nutritional value increase. However, switches to dry season browsing were significantly smaller in woodland and grassland habitats where tree communities are dominated by mopane (Colophospermum mopane), suggesting that grasses were favored here even in the dry season. Regional differences in diet did not reflect differences in grass biomass, tree density, or canopy cover. There was a consistent relationship between %C(4) intake and tree species diversity, implying that extensive browsing is avoided in habitats characterized by low tree species diversity and strong dominance patterns, i.e., mopane-dominated habitats. Although mopane is known to be a preferred species, maintaining dietary diversity appears to be a constraint to elephants, which they can overcome by supplementing their diets with less abundant resources (dry season grass). Such variations in feeding behavior likely influence the degree of impact on plant communities and can therefore provide key information for managing elephants over large, spatially diverse, areas.     

Density and habitat use of lions and spotted hyenas in northern Botswana and the influence of survey and ecological variables on call-in survey estimation

Top predators significantly impact ecosystem dynamics and act as important indicator species for ecosystem health. However, reliable density estimates for top predators, considered necessary for the development of management plans and ecosystem monitoring, are challenging to obtain. This study aims to establish baseline density estimates for two top predators, spotted hyena and lion, in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Using calling stations, we surveyed free-ranging populations of the two species and investigated methodological variables that might influence results about distributions and densities, including habitat type, seasonality, and different types of playback sounds. Calling stations were distributed over a survey area of approximately 1,800 km² characterized by three major habitat types: mopane woodland, floodplain and mixed acacia sandveld. Results indicate spotted hyenas were evenly distributed independent of habitat type and season throughout the survey area with an overall density estimate of 14.4 adults/100 km². In contrast, lion distribution and density varied significantly with habitat and season. Lion density in the prey-poor mopane woodland was near zero, while in the comparatively prey-rich floodplains it was estimated at 23.1 individuals/100 km² resulting in a weighted average density of 5.8 individuals/100 km² across the entire study area. In testing the effect of varying playback sounds we found that both species were significantly more likely to respond to calls of conspecifics. Our results show how several methodological variables may influence density estimates and emphasize the importance of standardized calling-station survey methods to allow consistent replication of surveys and comparison of results that can be used for landscape-scale monitoring of large predator species.     

Seasonal diet changes in elephant and impala in mopane woodland

Elephant and impala as intermediate feeders, having a mixed diet of grass and browse, respond to seasonal fluctuations of forage quality by changing their diet composition. We tested the hypotheses that (1) the decrease in forage quality is accompanied by a change in diet from more monocots in the wet season to more dicots in the dry season and that that change is more pronounced and faster in impala than in elephant; (2) mopane (Colophospermum mopane), the most abundant dicot species, is the most important species in the elephant diet in mopane woodland, whereas impala feed relatively less on mopane due to the high condensed tannin concentration; and (3) impala on nutrient-rich soils have a diet consisting of more grass and change later to diet of more browse than impala on nutrient-poor soils. The phosphorus content and in vitro digestibility of monocots decreased and the NDF content increased significantly towards the end of the wet season, whereas in dicots no significant trend could be detected. We argue that this decreasing monocot quality caused elephant and impala to consume more dicots in the dry season. Elephant changed their diet gradually over a 16-week period from 70% to 25% monocots, whereas impala changed diets rapidly (2?C4?weeks) from 95% to 70% monocots. For both elephants and impala, there was a positive correlation between percentage of monocots and dicots in the diet and the in vitro digestibility of these forage items. Mopane was the most important dicot species in the elephant diet and its contribution to the diet increased significantly in the dry season, whereas impala selected other dicot species. On nutrient-rich gabbroic soils, impala ate significantly more monocots than impala from nutrient-poor granitic soils, which was related to the higher in vitro digestibility of the monocots on gabbroic soil. Digestibility of food items appears to be an important determinant of diet change from the wet to the dry season in impala and elephants.     

Phenology and nutrition of miombo woodland trees in Zambia

Seasonality in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentration in soil and shoots of five Brachystegia-Julbernardia (miombo) woodland trees was studied from September 1991 to March 1993 at two regrowth miombo sites in central Zambia. Shoot growth started in the dry season (September–November) and lasted until April during the 1991/92 season but had virtually ceased by January 1993 during the 1992/93 season. The shoot growing season was associated with low foliar N/P ratios. These ratios were much lower (<5) during the 1991/92 season than in the 1992/93 season (12–15). The increase in foliar N/P ratios after the shoot growing season was caused by a sharp drop in foliar P concentration, apparently due to reabsorption before leaf fall. There were no annual variations in biomass N concentration in contrast to P. During the 1992/93 growing season P concentrations in foliage and wood were a quarter and a third, respectively, of the 1991/ 92 levels. Since the short shoot growing season observed during the 1992/93 season is typical of savanna woodland trees in southern Africa, the high biomass P concentration and longer growing season in 1991/92 season were exceptional and may have been related to reduced competition by shallow rooting herbaceous plants caused by the severe drought of that season.     

How Lovebirds Maneuver Rapidly Using Super-Fast Head Saccades and Image Feature Stabilization

Diurnal flying animals such as birds depend primarily on vision to coordinate their flight path during goal-directed flight tasks. To extract the spatial structure of the surrounding environment, birds are thought to use retinal image motion (optical flow) that is primarily induced by motion of their head. It is unclear what gaze behaviors birds perform to support visuomotor control during rapid maneuvering flight in which they continuously switch between flight modes. To analyze this, we measured the gaze behavior of rapidly turning lovebirds in a goal-directed task: take-off and fly away from a perch, turn on a dime, and fly back and land on the same perch. High-speed flight recordings revealed that rapidly turning lovebirds perform a remarkable stereotypical gaze behavior with peak saccadic head turns up to 2700 degrees per second, as fast as insects, enabled by fast neck muscles. In between saccades, gaze orientation is held constant. By comparing saccade and wingbeat phase, we find that these super-fast saccades are coordinated with the downstroke when the lateral visual field is occluded by the wings. Lovebirds thus maximize visual perception by overlying behaviors that impair vision, which helps coordinate maneuvers. Before the turn, lovebirds keep a high contrast edge in their visual midline. Similarly, before landing, the lovebirds stabilize the center of the perch in their visual midline. The perch on which the birds land swings, like a branch in the wind, and we find that retinal size of the perch is the most parsimonious visual cue to initiate landing. Our observations show that rapidly maneuvering birds use precisely timed stereotypic gaze behaviors consisting of rapid head turns and frontal feature stabilization, which facilitates optical flow based flight control. Similar gaze behaviors have been reported for visually navigating humans. This finding can inspire more effective vision-based autopilots for drones.     

Determinants of savanna vegetation structure: Insights from Colophospermum mopane

Abstract Savannas are structurally heterogeneous at the local, community‐level scale due to fine‐scale floristic heterogeneity as well as the responses of individual species to underlying environmental variation. The structure of mopane woodland, an arid savanna of southern Africa, is dictated largely by local variation in the relative dominance of tall, single‐stemmed and shorter, multi‐stemmed forms of the dominant tree species, Colophospermum mopane (Kirk ex Benth) Léonhard. Here we evaluate the hypothesis that the existence of these alternative forms of C. mopane, as well as the factors that dictate their distribution at a local scale, are driven by fine‐scale environmental variability in available water. We surveyed trees at four sites in the Kruger National Park of South Africa, in each instance surveying both forms of the species, from both riparian and non‐riparian zones. A survey of genetic variation across our sample (n = 80 individuals), using inter‐simple sequence repeat (ISSR) amplification profiles, indicates that the two forms are not genetically distinct, instead being environmentally determined. While measurements of xylem pressure potentials, determined using a Scholander pressure chamber, show a significant difference between riparian and non‐riparian zones, there is no significant difference between the two growth forms. Although this seems paradoxical in view of the prevalence of tree and shrub form mopane at riparian and non‐riparian sites, respectively, we speculate that such a pattern may emerge through the interaction of moisture stress and top‐down controls, such as those imposed by large mammal browsing and fire.     

Habitat preferences of ungulates in closed savanna of central Africa

Habitat preferences of fifteen species of ungulate were studied between July and September 1975 in dry savanna woodland of Mwabvi Game Reserve, Southern Malawi, Central Africa. Thirteen vegetation types were recognized using vegetation transects and plotless sampling techniques (but three of these are omitted from further analysis here either because of the difficulty of sampling in a representative manner or because of their infrequency). A combination of six methods was used to study habitat preferences since each had particular advantages or disadvantages, although quadrat sampling of fresh pellets/spoor counts was the most satisfactory and so used predominantly. The most common and widely distributed species was the Greater kudu, although abundance estimates in different habitats varied according to the method used. Pellet/spoor counts showed heavy use of open grassland by kudu which was not detected by daytime drives. Temporal patterns of activity indicated that the species was moving into more closed woodland during the day and only coming out into open grassland at night. Relative abundance estimates of a species may also be affected by changing group size. The mean group size of kudu increased in more open vegetation, although group size in warthog did not show this relationship. Some species, e.g. impala, reedbuck, and klipspringer showed narrow habitat preferences, occurring in only one or a few vegetation types, whilst others, e.g. kudu, sable, duiker, suni, and grysbok showed much broader preferences. Mixed Colophospermum mopane /Acacia woodland had the highest species diversity but rather low abundance. Open grassland and Acacia/Albizia woodland had high species diversity together with the greatest abundance of ungulates. Open Julbernardia/Diplorynchus, Brachystegia/Julber-nardia woodland, and particularly Pterocarpus/Diplorynchus/Combretum hill woodland had the lowest species diversity and abundance of ungulates. Ready access to cover and availability of suitable food plants probably account for the preferences of certain vegetation types over others, whilst the different behavioural ecology and food preferences of each species account for individual species differences. Access to water probably also determines habitat preferences in particular species, and studies during the wet season may show different distributions.     

COOPERATIVE BREEDING IN A POPULATION OF WHITEBROWED SPARROW WEAVERS PLOCEPASSER MAHALI

This paper reports on a three year study describing cooperative breeding and demography of a sampled population of approximately 108 colour-marked White-browed Sparrow Weavers in Zambia. Twenty-seven communal groups with two to 11 individuals in a group made up this population and occupied a l km² area of mopane woodland. Each group had only a single reproductive pair and the pair-bond appeared strong. Non-reproductives were generally siblings or half-siblings and they contributed a major share of nestling feeding, nest building, intruder chasing and guarding. Groups cooperatively built nests in certain preferred trees and they maintained their nests year round. Feeding range encircled the nesting site and was used almost exclusively by the communal group. Overall population density was relatively stable, and between-year variation in group size was significantly greater than within-year variation. Variation in annual reproductive success among groups was high and correlated positively with size. Mortality rates for nestlings, six-month-olds and juveniles were not correlated significantly with group size. Frequency of disappearance for reproductives of both sexes was correlated negatively with group size.     

Seasonal variations in the distribution and abundance of the tsetse fly,Glossina morsitans morsitans in eastern Zambia

The seasonal changes in the distribution of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) and its main host, cattle, were examined in a cultivated area of the plateau of eastern Zambia. During four consecutive years, the tsetse and cattle populations were monitored along a fly-round transect traversing the two main vegetation types in the study area. These were miombo, a one-storied open woodland with the genera Brachystegia and Julbernardia dominant, and munga, a one- or two-storied woodland where the principal tree genera were Acacia, Combretum and Terminalia. Concurrently, a capture/mark/release/recapture (CMRR) exercise was conducted along two other transects also traversing both vegetation types. The index of apparent abundance of tsetse (IAA) in miombo increased at the beginning of the rainy season (November), reached its peak at the end of the rainy season (April) and was low during the cold season (May to late August), but especially the hot dry season (September to late October). The IAA of tsetse in munga showed a pattern that was the reverse of that in miombo. The seasonal changes in the IAA of tsetse in both vegetation types were in accordance with changes in the movement patterns of tsetse between the two vegetation type as observed using CMRR. The distribution and abundance of cattle along the transect also showed a seasonal trend. This was especially so in munga, during the first three years of observations, where cattle abundance increased gradually from June onwards, reached a maximum at the end of the hot dry season (October-November) and declined steeply at the start of the rainy season (November-December). In both vegetation types, the monthly mean IAA of tsetse was positively correlated with the abundance of cattle in the previous month. It is concluded that the distribution of tsetse in cultivated area of the eastern plateau of Zambia undergoes substantial seasonal changes, which can partly be attributed to changes in the distribution of cattle. The implications of these observations for the control of tsetse are discussed.     

High‐resolution spatial modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from land‐use change to energy crops in the United Kingdom

We implemented a spatial application of a previously evaluated model of soil GHG emissions, ECOSSE, in the United Kingdom to examine the impacts to 2050 of land‐use transitions from existing land use, rotational cropland, permanent grassland or woodland, to six bioenergy crops; three ‘first‐generation’ energy crops: oilseed rape, wheat and sugar beet, and three ‘second‐generation’ energy crops: Miscanthus, short rotation coppice willow (SRC) and short rotation forestry poplar (SRF). Conversion of rotational crops to Miscanthus, SRC and SRF and conversion of permanent grass to SRF show beneficial changes in soil GHG balance over a significant area. Conversion of permanent grass to Miscanthus, permanent grass to SRF and forest to SRF shows detrimental changes in soil GHG balance over a significant area. Conversion of permanent grass to wheat, oilseed rape, sugar beet and SRC and all conversions from forest show large detrimental changes in soil GHG balance over most of the United Kingdom, largely due to moving from uncultivated soil to regular cultivation. Differences in net GHG emissions between climate scenarios to 2050 were not significant. Overall, SRF offers the greatest beneficial impact on soil GHG balance. These results provide one criterion for selection of bioenergy crops and do not consider GHG emission increases/decreases resulting from displaced food production, bio‐physical factors (e.g. the energy density of the crop) and socio‐economic factors (e.g. expenditure on harvesting equipment). Given that the soil GHG balance is dominated by change in soil organic carbon (SOC) with the difference among Miscanthus, SRC and SRF largely determined by yield, a target for management of perennial energy crops is to achieve the best possible yield using the most appropriate energy crop and cultivar for the local situation.     

Habitat preferences,seasonal abundance and diets of rodents in Alage,Southern Ethiopia

To understand habitat preferences, seasonal abundance and diets of rodents in wet and dry season surveys were conducted in Alage, Southern Ethiopia. Sherman and snap traps were used to capture rodents from the four habitats: bushland, Acacia woodland, maize and wheat farmlands. A total of 3312 trap nights, from the four trapping habitats, yielded 776 individuals that represented 11 species of rodents. The distribution of rodents varied between habitats and seasons. Wet season rodent abundance was 52.3% while in the dry season it was 47.7%. Seasonal differences in species abundance were insignificant. Bushland habitat had high wet and dry season abundances with 137 and 211 individuals, respectively. Abundance was low in maize farm (57 individuals) in the wet season and wheat farm (10 individuals) in the dry season. Stomach content composition analysis of snap‐trapped rodents from different habitats showed differences between species and across seasons. Six rodent species were recorded as pests on the farmlands in this study area. In conclusion, variation in habitat preferences and diet of rodents in different habitats and across seasons might be due to the role of ground cover and food sources.