Usefulness of Stress Indicators in Forecasting Population Trends in Microtus arvalis (Pallas) 1

• Published in: EPPO Bulletin
• Main Authors: Hamar, M., Tuta, Al., Petrescu, Anca, Babes, Liliana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1977
• Subjects: Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2338.1977.tb02734.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2338.1977.tb02734.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2338.1977.tb02734.x

ABSTRACT The appearance of a stress condition in Microtus arvalis (Pallas) populations was established on the basis of histochemical analyses and correlated with population dynamics. It was found that stress appears only during invasions, i.e. when crop damage has already occurred. Commonly, the population crash occurs 30 to 50 days after the appearance of stress. It is concluded that stress indices can neither be used for warnings nor for long‐term forecasts of outbreaks.