Rabbits: manageable environmental pests or participants in new Australian ecosystems?

Cooke, Brian

doi:10.1071/wr11166

Cited by 84 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Nevertheless, in some areas of Sicily and on the nearest small islands, where there are no predators and in a nature reserve where hunting is prohibited, the European rabbit is a pest species inducing damage to the agroecosystem and a decrease in the plant population, and causing considerable irreversible ecological and economic damage (Lees and Bell, 2008;Cooke, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mtDNA diversity in a rabbit population from Sicily (Italy)

Valvo¹,

Russo²,

Mancuso³

et al. 2017

Turk J Zool

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The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (O. c.) is a small game species found in several parts of the world and represents an important resource for many predators. It has been classified as a Near-Threatened species on the Red List of Italian Vertebrates even though it is also considered to be an agricultural pest species in many areas. It is a polytypic species present as two known subspecies: O. c. cuniculus and O. c. algirus. The Italian geographical distribution of the two subspecies is known, but mostly based on morphological, biogeographic, and historical literature data. In Sicily, there is no complete genetic description of the actual existing subspecies; previous studies have only reported the differences in size of the Sicilian rabbit population. In this study, we analyzed genetic data within a phylogenetic framework through mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b (cyt b) DNA from 13 rabbit samples collected from different sites in Sicily. We reconstructed the intraspecific phylogeny by comparing cyt b mtDNA sequences of 13 newly isolated O. cuniculus haplotypes from Sicily and 7 individuals from other areas (

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mtDNA diversity in a rabbit population from Sicily (Italy)

Valvo¹,

Russo²,

Mancuso³

et al. 2017

Turk J Zool

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“…Despite some effort to control their spread through fencing, poisoning, and hunting, rabbit populations continued to grow rapidly, with major plagues recorded throughout the 20th century; the total rabbit populations in Australia were estimated to be in the hundreds of millions (8). Importantly, rabbits are a serious pest in Australia and New Zealand, as they compete for resources with domestic and native species, and their invasion has been associated with the destruction of agricultural land from burrowing and overgrazing (9). More recent efforts to reduce rabbit populations have focused on the use of viruses as biological controls, notably myxoma virus (MYXV), which was released into both countries during the 1950s (10,11).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Following the identification of additional cases hundreds of kilometers from the trial site and evidence that the virus was being disseminated by flies (16), it was realized that the natural spread of the virus could not be contained, and final approval for the use of RHDV as a biocontrol agent against feral rabbits was given in October 1996 (15). In New Zealand, authorities decided against introducing RHDV into the rabbit population, citing uncertainty over RHDV epidemiology, its effectiveness as a biological control, disease outcomes, and inadequacy of management plans (9). However, in August 1997, RHDV-infected rabbits were identified in central Otago on the South Island.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In 1991, a Czech strain of RHDV, known as CAPM V-351 (GenBank accession number Z11535), was imported into Australia and initially characterized inside high-containment facilities at the Australian Animal Health Laboratories (AAHL), Geelong, Victoria (9). In 1995, field trials began testing the spread of this RHDV strain in rabbits living in natural warrens on Wardang Island, just off the South Australia coast.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Comparative Phylodynamics of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus in Australia and New Zealand

Eden

Kovaliski

Duckworth

et al. 2015

J Virol

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The introduction of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) into Australia and New Zealand during the 1990s as a means of controlling feral rabbits is an important case study in viral emergence. Both epidemics are exceptional in that the founder viruses share an origin and the timing of their release is known, providing a unique opportunity to compare the evolution of a single virus in distinct naive populations. We examined the evolution and spread of RHDV in Australia and New Zealand through a genome-wide evolutionary analysis, including data from 28 newly sequenced RHDV field isolates. Following the release of the Australian inoculum strain into New Zealand, no subsequent mixing of the populations occurred, with viruses from both countries forming distinct groups. Strikingly, the rate of evolution in the capsid gene was higher in the Australian viruses than in those from New Zealand, most likely due to the presence of transient deleterious mutations in the former. However, estimates of both substitution rates and population dynamics were strongly sample dependent, such that small changes in sample composition had an important impact on evolutionary parameters. Phylogeographic analysis revealed a clear spatial structure in the Australian RHDV strains, with a major division between those viruses from western and eastern states. Importantly, RHDV sequences from the state where the virus was first released, South Australia, had the greatest diversity and were diffuse throughout both geographic lineages, such that this region was likely a source population for the subsequent spread of the virus across the country. IMPORTANCE

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“…The introduced European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is one of Australia's most destructive vertebrate pests, causing major environmental and economic damage (Myers et al 1994;Cooke 2012;Cooke et al 2013). The destruction of rabbit warrens has been shown to be one of the most effective methods of control, resulting in dramatic reductions in rabbit numbers in arid, Although many studies have examined the effectiveness of warren ripping for reducing rabbit densities, few studies have examined the rate at which warrens are recolonised in ripped areas (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recolonisation of rabbit warrens following coordinated ripping programs in Victoria, south-eastern Australia

Ramsey

McPhee²,

Forsyth

et al. 2014

Wildl. Res.

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Context. Warren ripping has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for controlling rabbit populations. However, few studies have examined factors influencing the rate at which ripped warrens are likely to be recolonised (i.e. be re-opened).Aims. To examine factors influencing the recolonisation of ripped warrens by rabbits by using data collected on 555 warrens for up to 15 years following coordinated ripping programs at 12 sites in Victoria, south-eastern Australia.Methods. Warren-monitoring data (number of active and inactive warren entrances) were analysed using discrete-time survival analysis to determine the effects of warren-level and site-level covariates on the recolonisation of ripped warrens.Key results. Warren recolonisation was related to the distance between the ripped warren and the nearest active warren, the number of active entrances in the nearest warren, the initial number of active entrances in the ripped warren and the rabbit spotlight abundance index at the site. The probability of warren recolonisation was highest for ripped warrens within 1 km of an active warren and negligible beyond 3 km. The probability of warren recolonisation also increased by 22% for every increase in the rabbit spotlight count at the site by 10 rabbits km -1 .Conclusions. The recolonisation of ripped warrens was highly influenced by both the distance to, and size of, neighbouring active warrens. Larger warrens also appear to be preferentially recolonised compared with smaller warrens, suggesting that recolonisation of ripped areas may be related to habitat quality. The present results are consistent with ideas from classical metapopulation theory predicting that the rates of colonisation of vacant patches are dependent on both the proximity and size of the source population as well as the quality of habitat patches.Implications. Although coordinated warren ripping programs are effective at achieving long-term control of rabbits, their efficiency at maintaining low rabbit populations can be increased by adopting an adaptive monitoring program that incorporates warren size and the spatial relationships among warrens, and using this information to better target maintenance-control activities.

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Rabbits: manageable environmental pests or participants in new Australian ecosystems?

Cited by 84 publications

References 88 publications

mtDNA diversity in a rabbit population from Sicily (Italy)

mtDNA diversity in a rabbit population from Sicily (Italy)

Comparative Phylodynamics of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus in Australia and New Zealand

Recolonisation of rabbit warrens following coordinated ripping programs in Victoria, south-eastern Australia

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