Hansen Sabine C, Stolter Caroline, Imholt Christian, Jacob Jens
Julius-Kühn Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Forests, Vertebrate Research, Münster, Germany.
University Hamburg, Biocenter Grindel and Zoological Museum, Hamburg, Germany.
Integr Zool. 2017 Sep;12(5):428-436. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12245.
Rodents, including common voles (Microtus arvalis) and house mice (Mus musculus) cause immense pre-harvest and post-harvest losses. Therefore, developing methods that mitigate these losses while maintaining their role in ecosystems is a priority. Several plant secondary metabolites (PSM) which significantly reduce food intake of both species under laboratory conditions have been identified. However, before these can be used in rodent pest management, they must be tested under more natural conditions where other food sources are available. In this study, the odors of 4 PSMs were evaluated for their repellent effects in experiments conducted in semi-natural enclosures. Soil treated with PSMs or untreated soil (experimental control) was placed in an underground box containing food (rolled oats). We quantified the number of visits to each box and could demonstrate that all 4 PSMs reduced the number of visits to treatment boxes in both rodent species. For common voles the combination of methyl nonyl ketone + black pepper oil was the most repellent PSM. House mice made fewer visits to all PSM boxes; boxes with the anthraquinone were visited least. Furthermore, house mice consumed less food from boxes containing soil treated with all 4 PSMs. Our results suggest that PSMs are repellent in murid and microtine rodents under semi-field conditions. In addition, the future use of PSM odors for repelling both pest species, especially house mice, seems promising. Further investigations with other PSMs, different concentrations as well as alternative application methods are needed to repel common voles from attractive crops.
啮齿动物，包括普通田鼠（草原田鼠）和家鼠，会造成巨大的收获前和收获后损失。因此，开发既能减轻这些损失又能维持其在生态系统中作用的方法是当务之急。已经鉴定出几种植物次生代谢产物（PSM），在实验室条件下它们能显著减少这两种物种的食物摄入量。然而，在将这些物质用于啮齿动物害虫管理之前，必须在有其他食物来源的更自然条件下进行测试。在本研究中，在半自然围栏中进行的实验中评估了4种PSM的气味的驱避效果。将用PSM处理过的土壤或未处理的土壤（实验对照）放置在一个装有食物（燕麦片）的地下盒子中。我们对每个盒子的访问次数进行了量化，结果表明所有4种PSM都减少了两种啮齿动物对处理过的盒子的访问次数。对于普通田鼠来说，甲基壬基酮+黑胡椒油的组合是最具驱避性的PSM。家鼠对所有PSM盒子的访问次数较少；含有蒽醌的盒子访问次数最少。此外，家鼠从装有所有4种PSM处理过的土壤的盒子中消耗的食物较少。我们的结果表明，在半田间条件下，PSM对鼠科和田鼠科啮齿动物具有驱避作用。此外，未来使用PSM气味来驱避这两种害虫，尤其是家鼠，似乎很有前景。需要对其他PSM、不同浓度以及替代施用方法进行进一步研究，以驱赶普通田鼠远离有吸引力的作物。
