Multiple ecological processes underpin the eruptive dynamics of small mammals: House mice in a semi‐arid agricultural environment

Abstract

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.

Acute oral toxicity of zinc phosphide: an assessment for wild house mice (Mus musculus)

“… 2005 ; Brown et al . 2007 , 2010 , 2020 ). ZnP was first registered in 2000 as an in‐crop acute rodenticide for mouse management (APVMA 2000 ; Staples et al .…”

Abundance and effect of health status on apparent survival of Guiana dolphins,Sotalia guianensis, in an open embayment in north‐eastern Brazil

“…Although capture has been widely used to estimate abundance, even recently (e.g. Kahn et al, 2019; Brown et al, 2020; Valdez et al, 2020), according to Cooch & White (2019), all the heterogeneity models in capture , except M bh , are not likelihood based. All eight Otis models can be modelled in program mark , with different estimators than used in capture .…”

“…Although CAPTURE has been widely used to estimate abundance, even recently (e.g. Kahn et al, 2019;Brown et al, 2020;Valdez et al, 2020), according to Cooch & White (2019), all the heterogeneity models in CAPTURE, except M bh , are not likelihood based.…”

Enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for serodiagnosis of human leptospirosis: specific IgG3/IgG1 isotyping may further inform diagnosis of acute disease

“…In developed countries, unexpected deadly outbreaks have been reported in New York City in 2017 [ 2 ] and 2021 [ 3 ]. However, outbreaks of leptospirosis are expected in grain-growing rainy regions of Australia when reservoir host populations of house mice skyrocket [ 4 ]. Sub-Saharan African countries lack notification surveillance systems for leptospirosis and in most cases the laboratory diagnosis is not done [ 5 ].…”