IMPACTS OP HABITAT FRAGMENTATION ON THE TERRESTRIAL SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITIES IN THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST OP THE ANAIMALAI HILLS IN THE WESTERN GHATS, SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

The loss and fragmentation of the species-rich tropical rain forests is the most serious conservation crisis currently facing us. In the Western Ghats in south India as much as 40% of the forests was lost between 1920s and 1990s, with a 17-fold increase in forest patches. Such fragmentation of forests leads in the long run to loss of species due to the problems faced by small isolated populations, the cascading effects of the changes in the micro and macro climate, and the effects of invading species. The goal of this study was to make an assessment of the changes in the small mammal community due to the fragmentation of their rain forest habitat in the Western Ghats. The study animals included rodents of the Families Muridae and Muscardinidae, and shrews of the Order Insectivora. The specific objectives were: (a) to evaluate the differences among rain forest fragments in the community structure of small mammals, in relation to macrohabitat features of the forest fragments; (b) to examine the synchrony among forest fragments in the seasonal variation of several demographic parameters; and (c) to identify species differences in microhabitat preferences and examine their relevance to the changes in community structure due to habitat fragmentation.