Shifts in an invasive rodent community favoring Black rats (<i>Rattus rattus</i>) following restoration of native forest

Shiels, Aaron B.; Medeiros, Arthur C.; Allmen, Erica I. von

doi:10.1111/rec.12494

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Therefore, rats and mice may be more likely to compete for habitat in the kīpuka themselves (Caut et al 2007). By contrast, in a recent study on the neighbouring island of Maui, Shiels et al (2017) observed that black rats dominated a restored native dry forest, while house mice prevailed over rats in the adjacent grassland. Thus, management strategies aimed at removing all invasive rodents may need to incorporate multiple methods to control both rat and mice populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Successful management of invasive rats across a fragmented landscape

Barney

Leopold

Francisco³

et al. 2021

Envir. Conserv.

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Summary Introduced mammalian predators are responsible for the decline and extinction of many native species, with rats (genus Rattus) being among the most widespread and damaging invaders worldwide. In a naturally fragmented landscape, we demonstrate the multi-year effectiveness of snap traps in the removal of Rattus rattus and Rattus exulans from lava-surrounded forest fragments ranging in size from <0.1 to >10 ha. Relative to other studies, we observed low levels of fragment recolonization. Larger rats were the first to be trapped, with the average size of trapped rats decreasing over time. Rat removal led to distinct shifts in the foraging height and location of mongooses and mice, emphasizing the need to focus control efforts on multiple invasive species at once. Furthermore, because of a specially designed trap casing, we observed low non-target capture rates, suggesting that on Hawai‘i and similar islands lacking native rodents the risk of killing non-target species in snap traps may be lower than the application of rodenticides, which have the potential to contaminate food webs. These efforts demonstrate that targeted snap-trapping is an effective removal method for invasive rats in fragmented habitats and that, where used, monitoring of recolonization should be included as part of a comprehensive biodiversity management strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Successful management of invasive rats across a fragmented landscape

Barney

Leopold

Francisco³

et al. 2021

Envir. Conserv.

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“…Our study stresses the importance of further investigations on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases on islands. For example, some common commensal species (e.g., R. tanezumi and Rattus rattus) can not only adapt to diverse environments (71)(72)(73) but also host a variety of zoonotic diseases (8,71). They are also regular invaders on islands (4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commensal Rodent Habitat Expansion Enhances Arthropod Disease Vectors on a Tropical Volcanic Island

Shih

Wang

et al. 2021

Front. Vet. Sci.

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On volcanic islands, the release of animals from predators and competitors can lead to increased body size and population density as well as the expanded habitat use of introduced animals relative to their mainland counterparts. Such alterations might facilitate the spread of diseases on islands when these exotic animals also carry pathogenic agents; however, this has rarely been investigated. The commensal Asian house rat (Rattus tanezumi) is confined to human residential surroundings in mainland Taiwan but can be observed in the forests of nearby Orchid Island, which is a tropical volcanic island. Orchid Island is also a hot spot for scrub typhus, a lethal febrile disease transmitted by larval trombiculid mites (chiggers) that are infected primarily with the rickettsia Orientia tsutsugamushi (OT). We predicted an increase in chigger abundance when rodents (the primary host of chiggers) invade forests from human settlements since soils are largely absent in the latter habitat but necessary for the survival of nymphal and adult mites. A trimonthly rodent survey at 10 sites in three habitats (human residential, grassland, and forest) found only R. tanezumi and showed more R. tanezumi and chiggers in forests than in human residential sites. There was a positive association between rodent and chigger abundance, as well as between rodent body weight and chigger load. Lastly, >95% of chiggers were Leptotrombidium deliense and their OT infection rates were similar among all habitats. Our study demonstrated potentially elevated risks of scrub typhus when this commensal rat species is allowed to invade natural habitats on islands. Additionally, while the success of invasive species can be ascribed to their parasites being left behind, island invaders might instead obtain more parasites if the parasite requires only a single host (e.g., trombiculid mite), is a host generalist (e.g., L. deliense), and is transferred from unsuitable to suitable habitats (i.e., human settlements on the mainland to forests on an island).

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“…Our study stresses the importance of further investigation on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases on islands. For example, some common commensal species, such as R. tanezumi and Rattus rattus, can not only adapt to diverse environments (Chaisiri et al, 2015;Shiels et al, 2017;Wilson et al, 2017) but also host a variety of zoonotic diseases (Chaisiri et al, 2015;Kosoy et al, 2015). They are also regular invaders on islands (Johnson and Stattersfield, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commensal rodent habitat expansion enhances arthropod disease vectors on a tropical volcanic island

Wu¹,

Shih

Wang³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Release from predators and competitors on volcanic islands can lead to increased body size and population density, as well as expanded habitat usage of introduced animals relative to their mainland counterparts. Such alterations might help the spread of diseases on islands when these exotic animals also carry pathogenic agents, but is rarely investigated. The commensal Asian house rat (Rattus tanezumi) is confined to human residential surroundings in Taiwan mainland but can be observed in the primary forests of the nearby Orchid Island, a tropical volcanic island. Orchid Island is also a hotspot of scrub typhus, a lethal febrile disease transmitted by larval trombiculid mites (chiggers) infective of the rickettsia Orientia tsutsugamushi (OT). We predicted an increase in chigger abundance when rodents, the primary host of chiggers, invade forests from human settlements as soils are largely devoid of in the latter habitat but is necessary for the survival of nymphal and adult mites. A trimonthly rodent survey in ten sites of three habitats (human resident, grassland, and forest) found only R. tanezumi and showed more R. tanezumi and chiggers in forest than in human residential sites. There was a positive association between rodent and chigger abundance, as well between rodent body weight and load of chiggers. Lastly, >95% of chiggers were Leptotrombidium deliense and their OT infection rates were similar among the habitats. Our study demonstrated potentially elevated risks of scrub typhus when the commensal rat is allowed to invade natural habitats on islands. In addition, while the success of invasive species can be ascribed to their parasites being left behind, island invaders might instead attain more parasites when the parasite requires only a single host (e.g. trombiculid mite), is a host generalist (L. deliense), and is transferred from unsuitable to suitable habitats (human settlement on mainland to forest on island).

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Shifts in an invasive rodent community favoring Black rats (Rattus rattus) following restoration of native forest

Cited by 16 publications

References 52 publications

Successful management of invasive rats across a fragmented landscape

Successful management of invasive rats across a fragmented landscape

Commensal Rodent Habitat Expansion Enhances Arthropod Disease Vectors on a Tropical Volcanic Island

Commensal rodent habitat expansion enhances arthropod disease vectors on a tropical volcanic island

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