{"title":"Identifying black rat (Rattus rattus) movement patterns aids the development of management programs in citrus orchards","authors":"Roger A. Baldwin, Ryan Meinerz, Justine A. Smith","doi":"10.1071/wr23149","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<strong> Context</strong><p>The black rat (<i>Rattus rattus</i>) is an invasive species found throughout much of the globe, including in many agricultural areas, where they cause significant damage to many crops including citrus. Understanding how black rats move in these orchards would substantially aid the development of management programs to combat this pest species.</p><strong> Aim</strong><p>Our goal was to determine the home-range size and mean maximum distance moved over a 24-h period, as well as to determine the activity period for black rats in orchards.</p><strong> Methods</strong><p>We used innovative cellular tracking technology to provide a more complete assessment of home-range size and maximum daily movements than previously reported in other investigations. We also used remote-triggered cameras to assess activity periods for black rats to better inform management actions.</p><strong> Key results</strong><p>We observed large home ranges for black rats in citrus orchards (<math display=\"inline\" overflow=\"scroll\" xmlns:ali=\"http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/\" xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\"><mrow><mover accent=\"true\"><mi>x</mi><mo stretchy=\"true\">¯</mo></mover><mo>=</mo><mn>2.36</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mtext>ha</mtext></mrow></math>). Although mean home-range size did not differ between males and females, we did identify an effect of sex on the mean maximum daily distance moved by black rats (males: <math display=\"inline\" overflow=\"scroll\" xmlns:ali=\"http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/\" xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\"><mrow><mover accent=\"true\"><mi>x</mi><mo stretchy=\"true\">¯</mo></mover><mo>=</mo><mn>201</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mtext>m</mtext></mrow></math>; females: <math display=\"inline\" overflow=\"scroll\" xmlns:ali=\"http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/\" xmlns:mml=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\"><mrow><mover accent=\"true\"><mi>x</mi><mo stretchy=\"true\">¯</mo></mover><mo>=</mo><mn>148</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mtext>m</mtext></mrow></math>). Black rats were most active during the early evening, with all observations made during night-time.</p><strong> Conclusions</strong><p>Black rats moved relatively large distances within orchards, with activity occurring exclusively at night.</p><strong> Implications</strong><p>This information on black rat activity patterns will greatly assist in the development of management programs by informing ideal spacing between traps and bait stations to minimise cost, while still yielding efficacious results. A reliance on trapping or baiting during night-time would ensure access by black rats, while eliminating access to diurnal non-target species, although such actions would be labour-intensive and may be cost-prohibitive.</p>","PeriodicalId":1,"journal":{"name":"Accounts of Chemical Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":16.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Accounts of Chemical Research","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1071/wr23149","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Context
The black rat (Rattus rattus) is an invasive species found throughout much of the globe, including in many agricultural areas, where they cause significant damage to many crops including citrus. Understanding how black rats move in these orchards would substantially aid the development of management programs to combat this pest species.
Aim
Our goal was to determine the home-range size and mean maximum distance moved over a 24-h period, as well as to determine the activity period for black rats in orchards.
Methods
We used innovative cellular tracking technology to provide a more complete assessment of home-range size and maximum daily movements than previously reported in other investigations. We also used remote-triggered cameras to assess activity periods for black rats to better inform management actions.
Key results
We observed large home ranges for black rats in citrus orchards (). Although mean home-range size did not differ between males and females, we did identify an effect of sex on the mean maximum daily distance moved by black rats (males: ; females: ). Black rats were most active during the early evening, with all observations made during night-time.
Conclusions
Black rats moved relatively large distances within orchards, with activity occurring exclusively at night.
Implications
This information on black rat activity patterns will greatly assist in the development of management programs by informing ideal spacing between traps and bait stations to minimise cost, while still yielding efficacious results. A reliance on trapping or baiting during night-time would ensure access by black rats, while eliminating access to diurnal non-target species, although such actions would be labour-intensive and may be cost-prohibitive.
期刊介绍:
Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance.
Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.