Abstract

We sampled rodents in the Lang Bian Mountains of southern Viet Nam in June 1997 (rainy season) and January 1998 (dry season) by live-trapping. Eight transects in pine (Pinus) savanna and primary forest were sampled for 10 consecutive nights. We captured 11 species of rodents, including 10 murids and one sciurid. Niviventer fulvescens was the most frequently-captured species and apparently was a habitat generalist. That species was captured in both pine savanna and primary forest, but a distinct shift in habitat use occurred between the two seasons. During the rainy season, individuals were captured frequently in both habitats, but during the dry season, N. fulvescens was restricted mostly to forest. Fluctuation in resource abundance was the most likely explanation for that habitat shift; enormous quantities of acorns were present in the dry season, but few resources were available in the rainy season. Other species of rodents were captured less frequently, and several species appeared to be more restricted in their habitat distributions than N. fulvescens.

This content is only available as a PDF.
You do not currently have access to this article.