Spatial Segregation between Invasive and Native Commensal Rodents in an Urban Environment: A Case Study in Niamey, Niger

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Garba, Madougou, Dalecky, Ambroise, Kadaoure, Ibrahima, Kane, Mamadou, Hima, Karmadine, Veran, Sophie, Gagare, Sama, Gauthier, Philippe, Tatard, Caroline, Rossi, Jean-Pierre, Dobigny, Gauthier
• Other Authors: Direction Générale de la Protection des Végétaux, Ministère de l'Agriculture, Département Formation Recherche, Centre Régional AGRHYMET (CRA), Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Laboratoire Population-Environnement-Développement (LPED), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU), Université Abdou Moumouni Niamey, IRD (France)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: France; Agrhymet; USAid/Fews-Net; Niamey; Niger; IRD; CBGP; Campus ISRA-IRD Dakar-Bel-Air; Dakar; INRA; Campus International Baillarguet; Montferrier-sur-Lez; Senegal; [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://amu.hal.science/hal-01242801; https://amu.hal.science/hal-01242801/document; https://amu.hal.science/hal-01242801/file/fetchObject.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110666

Times Cited: 0 International audience Invasive rodents have been responsible for the diffusion worldwide of many zoonotic agents, thus representing major threats for public health. Cities are important hubs for people and goods exchange and are thus expected to play a pivotal role in invasive commensal rodent dissemination. Yet, data about urban rodents' ecology, especially invasive vs. native species interactions, are dramatically scarce. Here, we provide results of an extensive survey of urban rodents conducted in Niamey, Niger, depicting the early stages of rodent bioinvasions within a city. We explore the species-specific spatial distributions throughout the city using contrasted approaches, namely field sampling, co-occurrence analysis, occupancy modelling and indicator geostatistics. We show that (i) two species (i.e. rural-like vs. truly commensal) assemblages can be identified, and that (ii) within commensal rodents, invasive (Rattus rattus and Mus musculus) and native (Mastomys natalensis) species are spatially segregated. Moreover, several pieces of arguments tend to suggest that these exclusive distributions reflect an ongoing native-to-invasive species turn over. The underlying processes as well as the possible consequences for humans are discussed.