Meng Fengqun
College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China.
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2025 Apr 30;25(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s12862-025-02383-x.
Understanding the macroscale patterns of rodent herbivory damage and their driving factors are essential for effective rodent management. This study examines how climatic factors and human activities influence the large-scale spatial distribution of rodent herbivory damage in forests of China.
I utilized a unique long-term province-level dataset of rodent damage in China to map its extent across the country. A generalized linear mixed model was employed to analyze the relationship between rodent damage, and climatic variables, and human population density (HPD). The results reveal a clear spatial pattern of rodent herbivory damage in China's forests, primarily driven by HPD and precipitation of the warmest quarter, with a secondary influence of diurnal temperature range. These three variables explained approximately 58% of the variation in the geographic pattern of rodent herbivory damage in China's forests. Specifically, rodent damage was negatively correlated with both precipitation of the warmest quarter and HPD. Higher precipitation during the warmest quarter (often as rainstorms) probably exacerbates rodent mortality through flooding their burrows and imposing thermal stress, while higher HPD probably increases predation pressure, further lowering rodent populations. Additionally, rodent damage was positively related to diurnal temperature range, likely because greater diurnal temperature fluctuations impose greater thermal stress on their predator, thereby enhancing rodent survival. Consequently, regions in northwestern China that are arid, experience high diurnal temperature fluctuations and have low human populations, are particularly vulnerable to severe rodent damage. In contrast, southern and southeastern China, with higher precipitation, milder temperature fluctuations, and denser human populations, experience significantly lower rodent damage.
The findings suggest that the combination of precipitation during the warmest quarter, diurnal temperature range, and HPD can serve as effective indicators of rodent pest severity in forests. This underscores the need for proactive surveillance and management in arid regions with high diurnal temperature fluctuations and low population densities worldwide.
了解啮齿动物食草损害的宏观模式及其驱动因素对于有效的啮齿动物管理至关重要。本研究探讨了气候因素和人类活动如何影响中国森林中啮齿动物食草损害的大规模空间分布。
我利用了中国独特的省级啮齿动物损害长期数据集来绘制其在全国的范围。采用广义线性混合模型分析啮齿动物损害与气候变量和人口密度（HPD）之间的关系。结果揭示了中国森林中啮齿动物食草损害的明显空间模式，主要由HPD和最暖季度的降水量驱动，昼夜温差有次要影响。这三个变量解释了中国森林中啮齿动物食草损害地理模式变化的约58%。具体而言，啮齿动物损害与最暖季度的降水量和HPD均呈负相关。最暖季度较高的降水量（通常为暴雨）可能通过淹没洞穴和施加热应激加剧啮齿动物死亡率，而较高的HPD可能增加捕食压力，进一步降低啮齿动物数量。此外，啮齿动物损害与昼夜温差呈正相关，可能是因为更大的昼夜温度波动对其捕食者施加了更大的热应激，从而提高了啮齿动物的存活率。因此，中国西北部干旱、昼夜温度波动大且人口稀少的地区特别容易受到严重的啮齿动物损害。相比之下，中国南部和东南部降水量较高、温度波动较小且人口密集，啮齿动物损害明显较低。
研究结果表明，最暖季度的降水量、昼夜温差和HPD的组合可作为森林中啮齿动物虫害严重程度的有效指标。这突出了在全球昼夜温度波动大且人口密度低的干旱地区进行主动监测和管理的必要性。
