Préférence édaphique et pullulation chez Meriones shawii (Mammalia, Rodentia) dans la région de Tiaret (Algérie)

Edaphic preferences and pullulation in Meriones shawii (Mammalia, Rodentia) in Tiaret region (Algeria).— In order to better control pullulations of M. shawii in cultivated fields in the Tiaret region (Algeria), we studied the edaphic preferences of this rodent in two zones of low and high relative density of active burrows at the beginning of cereal tillering (March). By using index method to estimate relative abundance (census of active burrows) and pedological analysis of soil granulometry, rates of total and active CaCO3, organic matter and humidity, we searched for correlations between soil characteristics and abundance level. The level of the rodent population is higher when the amounts of sand and total CaCO3 in the soil are high and humidity less than 15 %. On the other hand, the abundance is low and even null when the amounts of clay, active CaCO3 and humidity are high. Thus this study confirms for the first time in Algeria, in cultivated fields, M. shawii’s preference for low-humidity sandy soils with high total CaCO3 ; these soils would be more suitable to the species for digging out burrows, thence its higher abundance there. We found no clear relation between the organic matter rate in the soil and the pullulation level. Further studies are required for a better understanding of the role of irrigation and of the demographic cycle of M. shawii in order to better predict and control the relative population abundance of this rodent in the cereal fields. These results confirm recent works that highlighted the importance of edaphic factors to explain burrowing rodents’ pullulations.