Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

Human activities, directly and indirectly, impact ecological engineering activities of subterranean rodents. As engineering activities of burrowing rodents are affected by, and reciprocally affect vegetation cover via feeding, burrowing and mound building, human influence such as settlements and livestock grazing, could have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes such as bioturbation. However, there is limited understanding of the relationship between human activities and burrowing rodents. The aim of this study was therefore to understand how human activities influence the ecological engineering activity of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a subterranean rodent species endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. We collected data on human impact, burrowing activity and vegetation during February and March of 2021. Using path analysis, we tested (1) direct effects of human settlement on the patterns of livestock grazing inten..., This file contains data collected at 216 sample plots established along 36, 1.5km long transects in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. Users are free to reuse for scientific purposes., File name: GRRData.csv All variables used in the analysis stored in the file are defined as follows:site: 6 sites where data were collectedtransect: 36 transects where plots were establishedplot: sample plotssettype: settlement type (permanent vs seasonal)distance: distance of a sample plot from a settlement areadung: number of livestock dung counted within 25 x 25m plotfreshholes: number of giant root-rat fresh burrows counted within 25x25m plotS: plant species richness recorded within a plotvegcvrall: vegetation cover within a plot人类活动可直接或间接影响地下啮齿类的生态工程行为。掘穴啮齿类的工程行为会通过取食、掘穴与堆土行为调控植被覆盖，同时自身也会受到植被覆盖的影响；而人类定居、畜牧放牧等人类活动，可对生物多样性与生物扰动等生态系统过程产生级联效应。然而目前学界对人类活动与掘穴啮齿类之间的关联认知仍较为有限。 因此本研究旨在探究人类活动如何影响巨根鼠（giant root-rat, *Tachyoryctes macrocephalus*）的生态工程行为——该物种是埃塞俄比亚贝尔山脉非洲高山（Afroalpine）生态系统特有的地下啮齿类。本研究于2021年2-3月期间收集了人类影响、掘穴活动与植被相关数据，并采用通径分析（path analysis）验证了：（1）人类定居对畜牧放牧强度格局的直接影响…… 本数据集包含沿埃塞俄比亚贝尔山脉36条长1.5km样线布设的216个样方中采集的数据，可供科研用途免费复用。文件名：GRRData.csv 文件中存储的本研究分析所用全部变量定义如下： site：数据采集的6个样地 transect：布设样方的36条样线 plot：调查样方 settype：定居类型（永久定居与季节性定居） distance：样方距定居点的距离 dung：25×25m样方内统计的牲畜粪便数量 freshholes：25×25m样方内统计的巨根鼠新鲜洞穴数量 S：样方内记录的植物物种丰富度 vegcvrall：样方内的植被盖度