Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes
Two species of European commensal murids, the Norway rat norvegicus and the ship rat Rattus rattus, have colonized two island archipelagos of comparable size and temperate climate but in opposite hemispheres and with opposite outcomes. Ship rats were common commensals in Britain until replaced by No...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5518 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x |
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ftunivwaikato:oai:researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz:10289/5518 2023-05-15T18:04:52+02:00 Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes King, Carolyn M. Foster, Stacey Patricia Miller, Steven D. 2011 https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5518 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x en eng Wiley King, C.M., Foster, S. & Miller, S. (2011). Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes. Journal of Zoology, available online 23 June 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5518 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x Rattus rattus Rattus norvegicus invasive species competition optimal foraging strategy marginal value theorem Journal Article 2011 ftunivwaikato https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x 2022-03-29T15:11:59Z Two species of European commensal murids, the Norway rat norvegicus and the ship rat Rattus rattus, have colonized two island archipelagos of comparable size and temperate climate but in opposite hemispheres and with opposite outcomes. Ship rats were common commensals in Britain until replaced by Norway rats; Norway rats were hugely abundant in native forests throughout New Zealand until widely replaced by ship rats. Interference explains the first case, as ship rats are smaller than Norway rats and are always vulnerable to aggressive competition from them, but some other explanation is needed for the second case. We used the marginal value theorem to investigate exploitation competition between these two species in arboreal habitats. We observed the climbing behaviour and ‘giving-up time’ of captive rats of both species searching for food at different heights above the ground. Our data confirmed that the smaller size and greater agility of R. rattus give it a competitive advantage in foraging for scattered small food items above ground. We propose that (1) the outcomes of the interactions between the two rat species in any given place depend on the distribution of food resources in structurally complex habitat, moderated by winter temperatures; (2) the different outcomes of invasions by the two species can be explained in Britain by interference competition, and in New Zealand by exploitation competition and by the absence of specialist arboreal rodents (squirrels). Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus The University of Waikato: Research Commons New Zealand Norway Journal of Zoology 285 3 172 179 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Waikato: Research Commons |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwaikato |
language |
English |
topic |
Rattus rattus Rattus norvegicus invasive species competition optimal foraging strategy marginal value theorem |
spellingShingle |
Rattus rattus Rattus norvegicus invasive species competition optimal foraging strategy marginal value theorem King, Carolyn M. Foster, Stacey Patricia Miller, Steven D. Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
topic_facet |
Rattus rattus Rattus norvegicus invasive species competition optimal foraging strategy marginal value theorem |
description |
Two species of European commensal murids, the Norway rat norvegicus and the ship rat Rattus rattus, have colonized two island archipelagos of comparable size and temperate climate but in opposite hemispheres and with opposite outcomes. Ship rats were common commensals in Britain until replaced by Norway rats; Norway rats were hugely abundant in native forests throughout New Zealand until widely replaced by ship rats. Interference explains the first case, as ship rats are smaller than Norway rats and are always vulnerable to aggressive competition from them, but some other explanation is needed for the second case. We used the marginal value theorem to investigate exploitation competition between these two species in arboreal habitats. We observed the climbing behaviour and ‘giving-up time’ of captive rats of both species searching for food at different heights above the ground. Our data confirmed that the smaller size and greater agility of R. rattus give it a competitive advantage in foraging for scattered small food items above ground. We propose that (1) the outcomes of the interactions between the two rat species in any given place depend on the distribution of food resources in structurally complex habitat, moderated by winter temperatures; (2) the different outcomes of invasions by the two species can be explained in Britain by interference competition, and in New Zealand by exploitation competition and by the absence of specialist arboreal rodents (squirrels). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
King, Carolyn M. Foster, Stacey Patricia Miller, Steven D. |
author_facet |
King, Carolyn M. Foster, Stacey Patricia Miller, Steven D. |
author_sort |
King, Carolyn M. |
title |
Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
title_short |
Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
title_full |
Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
title_fullStr |
Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes |
title_sort |
invasive european rats in britain and new zealand: same species, different outcomes |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5518 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x |
geographic |
New Zealand Norway |
geographic_facet |
New Zealand Norway |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_relation |
King, C.M., Foster, S. & Miller, S. (2011). Invasive European rats in Britain and New Zealand: same species, different outcomes. Journal of Zoology, available online 23 June 2011. https://hdl.handle.net/10289/5518 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00827.x |
container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
285 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
172 |
op_container_end_page |
179 |
_version_ |
1766176282283868160 |