Savanna rodents’ selective removal of an encroaching plant’s seeds increased with grass biomass

In savannas across the planet, encroaching woody plants are altering ecosystem functions and reshaping communities. Seed predation by rodents may serve to slow the encroachment of woody plants in grasslands and savannas. Our goals for this study were to determine if rodents in an African savanna selectively removed seeds of an encroaching plant and if foraging activity was influenced by the local vegetation structure or by the landscape context. From trials with two species of seeds (encroacher = Dichrostachys cinerea, non-encroaching overstory tree = Senegalia nigrescens) at 64 seed stations, we recorded 1,065 foraging events by seven species of granivorous rodents. We found a strong positive relationship between rodent activity and the number of seeds removed during trials. Foraging events were dominated by rodent seed predators, with