Brown Peter R, Arthur Anthony D, Jones Dean A, Davies Micah J, Grice David, Pech Roger P
CSIRO Agriculture and Food Canberra ACT Australia.
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources Canberra ACT Australia.
Ecol Evol. 2020 Mar 5;10(7):3477-3490. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6145. eCollection 2020 Apr.
Mouse plagues are a regular feature of grain-growing regions, particularly in southern and eastern Australia, yet it is not clear what role various ecological processes play in the eruptive dynamics generating these outbreaks.This research was designed to assess the impact of adding food, water, and cover in all combinations on breeding performance, abundance, and survival of mouse populations on a typical cereal growing farm in northwestern Victoria.Supplementary food, water, and cover were applied in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design to 240 m sections of internal fence lines between wheat or barley crops and stubble/pasture fields over an 11-month period to assess the impact on mouse populations.We confirmed that mice were eating the additional food and were accessing the water provided. We did not generate an outbreak of mice, but there were some significant effects from the experimental treatments. Additional food increased population size twofold and improved apparent survival. Both water and cover improved breeding performance. Food and cover increased apparent survival.Our findings confirm that access to food, water, and cover are necessary for outbreaks, but are not sufficient. There remain additional factors that are important in generating mouse plagues, particularly in a climatically variable agricultural environment.
鼠患是谷物种植区的常见现象，尤其是在澳大利亚南部和东部，但目前尚不清楚各种生态过程在引发这些鼠患爆发的动态过程中扮演何种角色。本研究旨在评估在维多利亚州西北部一个典型的谷物种植农场，以各种组合方式添加食物、水和遮蔽物对小鼠种群繁殖性能、数量和存活率的影响。在11个月的时间里，采用2×2×2析因设计，在小麦或大麦作物与留茬地/牧场之间的240米长的内部围栏线上设置补充食物、水和遮蔽物，以评估对小鼠种群的影响。我们证实小鼠食用了额外的食物并获取了提供的水。我们没有引发小鼠爆发，但实验处理产生了一些显著影响。额外的食物使种群数量增加了两倍，并提高了表观存活率。水和遮蔽物都改善了繁殖性能。食物和遮蔽物提高了表观存活率。我们的研究结果证实，获取食物、水和遮蔽物是鼠患爆发的必要条件，但并不充分。在引发鼠患方面，尤其是在气候多变的农业环境中，还有其他重要因素。
