Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory
Abstract Reinvasion of pest animals after incomplete control is a major challenge for invasive species management, yet little is known about the behavioural and demographic categories of reinvaders or the mechanisms that drive population‐level responses to control. To understand the fine‐scale mecha...
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crwiley:10.1111/aec.12855 2024-09-15T18:32:00+00:00 Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory Hansen, Nicole Hughes, Nelika K. Byrom, Andrea E. Banks, Peter B. Australian Wildlife Conservancy University of New South Wales 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.12855 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Faec.12855 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aec.12855 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/aec.12855 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Austral Ecology volume 45, issue 3, page 291-304 ISSN 1442-9985 1442-9993 journal-article 2020 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12855 2024-07-30T04:22:05Z Abstract Reinvasion of pest animals after incomplete control is a major challenge for invasive species management, yet little is known about the behavioural and demographic categories of reinvaders or the mechanisms that drive population‐level responses to control. To understand the fine‐scale mechanisms of reinvasion, we examined changes in demography, movements and activity patterns of reinvading alien black rats Rattus rattus in the short (4 weeks) and longer term (3 months) following localised experimental pest removal. Using recovery and invasion theory, we tested three hypothesised mechanisms of reinvasion: the ‘in situ effect’, the ‘trickle effect’ and the ‘vacuum effect’. We created space for reinvasion by removing black rats from the core of replicate 1‐ha plots (short‐term experiment) and later by removing animals from the entire plot (longer‐term experiment). Reinvaders were characterised as dispersing juveniles, floaters or neighbours. Radio‐tracking quantified home range changes for adjacent resident animals (short‐term experiment only). In the short term, there was no net influx of rats after targeted removal. Radio‐tracked residents’ movements were highly variable and displayed no directional changes after nearby conspecifics were removed. However, in the longer term, removal led to slow population recovery through a mix of reinvading floaters, dispersing juveniles and shifting residents. These responses best support a hypothesis of reinvasion through a trickle effect, with rats being extremely mobile and having a high degree of population turnover, even in untreated sites. Our findings provide the first test of reinvasion theory at a small scale, demonstrating the importance of understanding the differing categories of reinvaders and mechanisms of reinvasion after population control. These mechanisms drive the rate of population recovery and, in turn, should help determine which strategy of pest control should be used, and the frequency with which they are implemented, in order to slow the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Wiley Online Library Austral Ecology 45 3 291 304 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Reinvasion of pest animals after incomplete control is a major challenge for invasive species management, yet little is known about the behavioural and demographic categories of reinvaders or the mechanisms that drive population‐level responses to control. To understand the fine‐scale mechanisms of reinvasion, we examined changes in demography, movements and activity patterns of reinvading alien black rats Rattus rattus in the short (4 weeks) and longer term (3 months) following localised experimental pest removal. Using recovery and invasion theory, we tested three hypothesised mechanisms of reinvasion: the ‘in situ effect’, the ‘trickle effect’ and the ‘vacuum effect’. We created space for reinvasion by removing black rats from the core of replicate 1‐ha plots (short‐term experiment) and later by removing animals from the entire plot (longer‐term experiment). Reinvaders were characterised as dispersing juveniles, floaters or neighbours. Radio‐tracking quantified home range changes for adjacent resident animals (short‐term experiment only). In the short term, there was no net influx of rats after targeted removal. Radio‐tracked residents’ movements were highly variable and displayed no directional changes after nearby conspecifics were removed. However, in the longer term, removal led to slow population recovery through a mix of reinvading floaters, dispersing juveniles and shifting residents. These responses best support a hypothesis of reinvasion through a trickle effect, with rats being extremely mobile and having a high degree of population turnover, even in untreated sites. Our findings provide the first test of reinvasion theory at a small scale, demonstrating the importance of understanding the differing categories of reinvaders and mechanisms of reinvasion after population control. These mechanisms drive the rate of population recovery and, in turn, should help determine which strategy of pest control should be used, and the frequency with which they are implemented, in order to slow the ... |
author2 |
Australian Wildlife Conservancy University of New South Wales |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hansen, Nicole Hughes, Nelika K. Byrom, Andrea E. Banks, Peter B. |
spellingShingle |
Hansen, Nicole Hughes, Nelika K. Byrom, Andrea E. Banks, Peter B. Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
author_facet |
Hansen, Nicole Hughes, Nelika K. Byrom, Andrea E. Banks, Peter B. |
author_sort |
Hansen, Nicole |
title |
Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
title_short |
Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
title_full |
Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
title_fullStr |
Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population recovery of alien black rats Rattus rattus: A test of reinvasion theory |
title_sort |
population recovery of alien black rats rattus rattus: a test of reinvasion theory |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.12855 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Faec.12855 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/aec.12855 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/aec.12855 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
Austral Ecology volume 45, issue 3, page 291-304 ISSN 1442-9985 1442-9993 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12855 |
container_title |
Austral Ecology |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
291 |
op_container_end_page |
304 |
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1810473741007716352 |