SANBI

Rationale

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution within the assessment region, abundant population, ability to live in a wide variety of habitats, including agricultural landscapes, and because there are no major threats that could cause population decline. This species is considered an agricultural pest during population surges and holistic management control methods, including the use of Barn Owls (Tyto alba), should be encouraged.

Regional population effects: This species has a contiguous habitat across Botswana and southeast Namibia, thus dispersal is highly probable between these regions.

Distribution

Highveld Gerbils are endemic to southern Africa (but absent from the mesic eastern savannahs and the arid western regions), where they mainly occur in open grasslands with sandy soils in the South-West Arid and Highveld biotic zones and marginally in the southern part of the Zambezian Woodland biotic zone (Dempster 2013; Monadjem et al. 2015). Their distribution includes the eastern half of Namibia, most of Botswana and marginal areas in southeastern Angola, a small western part of Zimbabwe and southwestern Zambia (Skinner & Chimimba 2005).

In the assessment region, they occur in South Africa throughout the North West, Gauteng and the Free State (Lynch 1983; Skinner & Chimimba 2005; Power 2014), in the western parts of Limpopo, the southern parts of Mpumalanga, the western and northeastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the northeastern parts of the Eastern Cape and the northern parts of the Northern Cape (Avery et al. 2002; Skinner & Chimimba 2005; Avery & Avery 2011). They are absent from the extremely arid western parts of South Africa (Dempster 2013). According to Lynch (1994) and Skinner and Chimimba (2005) they are rare throughout Lesotho, although later suggestions by Ambrose (2006) indicated they are more abundant in this country. They are absent from Swaziland (Monadjem 1997; Skinner & Chimimba 2005).

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

It is a common species with expected cyclic variations in abundance (Avenant 2011). Korn (1987) estimated the density of G. brantsii in the Nylsvley Nature Reserve, Limpopo Province, as between 12 and 16 animals / ha during the dry period, while de Moor (1969) estimated their density to range from 14.8 to 27.1 animals / ha in the South African Highveld. Abundant food in the form of crops leads to higher population densities in this species, which in turn leads to crop damage, which leads to it being considered a pest species in agricultural settings (Skinner & Chimimba 2005; Power 2014). When the population density exceeds a critical limit, natural predators are not able to keep population numbers low enough to reduce crop damage to acceptable limits.

Threats

There are no major threats to this species. During population explosions it may become an agricultural pest in some areas which could result in persecution (Verdoorn 2010; von Maltitz et al. 2014). Although this species is a major reservoir for the bubonic plague, it is likely not persecuted for this because it is known not to enter human establishments. Farmers often use poison to control the population, which has knock-on effects for the ecosystem (Makundi & Massawe 2011).

Uses and trade

This species is not known to be traded or utilised in any form.

Conservation

This species is present in many protected areas throughout the assessment region, including Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Sehlabathebe National Park (Lesotho), Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Pilanesberg National Park and Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. There are no specific interventions necessary and this species thrives in cultivated areas (predominantly on grain-growing lands). Selective chemical control (Verdoorn 2010; von Maltitz et al. 2014) or biocontrol of population explosions through the use of Barn Owls (Potter 2004) are viable control methods that are currently available and form part of holistic ecosystem management strategies. The use of Barn Owls for population control has been successfully implemented for the closely related G. afra, and is thus a potentially effective method for G. brantsii as well. In a study conducted on G. afra in the Western Cape this method was found to be twice as effective on the gerbil population, compared to the use of poison (Potter 2004). Barn Owls respond to prey explosions by increasing reproduction (Potter 2004; Makundi & Massawe 2011). This management intervention also saves farmers the cost of buying poison and the mortality of non-target species including domestic stock.

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:

Barn Owls are being used successfully to control the closely related species, G. afra. This should be encouraged as a holistic management intervention. In order to assist Barn Owls to manage the populations one should erect perches in the crop fields and then nesting boxes in appropriate sites close to the fields.

Research priorities:

The practicalities and effectiveness of the use Barn Owls as a population control method for this species.
Taxonomic resolution of the Gerbilliscus genus.

Encouraged citizen actions:

Report sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP), especially outside protected areas.
Install Barn Owl nest boxes and perches in crop fields to encourage biocontrol during population explosions.

References

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