Belbel

At the heart of food webs, the diversity and dynamics of small mammals are excellent indicators of ecosystem health. Our research was based on a spatio-temporal analysis of the consumption of small mammals by two of their predators: the common genet and the African golden wolf. The resulting study was carried out in the Edough mountain range from December 2018 to February 2020, where we were able to collect a total of 390 droppings, including 210 belonging to the common genet and 180 to the African golden wolf. We carried out a taxonomic identification of the small mammals consumed by the two predators, then analyzed some parameters of the structure of the small mammal population, and its seasonal variation in natural environments. After processing the faeces, we were able to identify 04 species of small mammals, with an overlap of trophic niches between the two predators, particularly marked in winter. These results confirm the status of the two sympatric predators as samplers of micro mammal biodiversity in natural environments.