Susanne Hein1,2, Jens Jacob1. 1. Julius Kuehn Institute-Federal Research Center for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Forest, Vertebrate Research, Muenster, Germany. 2. University Muenster, Faculty of Geosciences. Institute for Landscape Ecology, Muenster, Germany.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Population collapses in small mammals occur naturally after natural disasters and during multi-annual population fluctuations as well as after man-made intervention such as rodent management action. Although there has been extensive previous work on patterns and mechanisms of population fluctuations and cyclicity, little is known about population recovery after collapse. In Europe, the common vole (Microtus arvalis) is the major pest species in agriculture, damaging crops, competing with livestock and potentially posing a health risk to people. In this study, we investigated population recovery, recovery mechanism and recovery time of common vole populations after artificially inducing a collapse through rodenticide application. RESULTS: The rodenticide treatment reduced abundance in spring (by about 90%) but not in summer. Demographic data (age, sex-ratio, breeding activity) suggest that it was mostly immigration and not reproduction that led to population recovery after collapse. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that rodenticide treatment should be conducted in spring before the main reproductive season starts. The treatment effect was transient and lasted for about 3 months before immigration offset the initial reduction in population abundance. This indicates that immigration patterns should be considered by managing vole populations at an appropriate spatial scale and frequency to prevent rapid repopulation.
BACKGROUND: Population collapses in small mammals occur naturally after natural disasters and during multi-annual population fluctuations as well as after man-made intervention such as rodent management action. Although there has been extensive previous work on patterns and mechanisms of population fluctuations and cyclicity, little is known about population recovery after collapse. In Europe, the common vole (Microtus arvalis) is the major pest species in agriculture, damaging crops, competing with livestock and potentially posing a health risk to people. In this study, we investigated population recovery, recovery mechanism and recovery time of common vole populations after artificially inducing a collapse through rodenticide application. RESULTS: The rodenticide treatment reduced abundance in spring (by about 90%) but not in summer. Demographic data (age, sex-ratio, breeding activity) suggest that it was mostly immigration and not reproduction that led to population recovery after collapse. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that rodenticide treatment should be conducted in spring before the main reproductive season starts. The treatment effect was transient and lasted for about 3 months before immigration offset the initial reduction in population abundance. This indicates that immigration patterns should be considered by managing vole populations at an appropriate spatial scale and frequency to prevent rapid repopulation.
Authors: Stacy Soh; Cliff Chua; Jane Griffiths; Penny Oh; John Chow; Qianyi Chan; Jason Tan; Joel Aik Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-05-20 Impact factor: 3.752
Authors: Sabrina Schmidt; Daniela Reil; Kathrin Jeske; Stephan Drewes; Ulrike M Rosenfeld; Stefan Fischer; Nastasja G Spierling; Anton Labutin; Gerald Heckel; Jens Jacob; Rainer G Ulrich; Christian Imholt Journal: Viruses Date: 2021-06-11 Impact factor: 5.048