Redalyc.HOME RANGE of MARSH RATS, Holochilus Sciureus, A
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Interciencia ISSN: 0378-1844 [email protected] Asociación Interciencia Venezuela Eiris, Gabriela C.; Barreto, Guillermo R. HOME RANGE OF MARSH RATS, Holochilus sciureus, A RODENT PEST IN RICE FIELDS OF VENEZUELA Interciencia, vol. 34, núm. 6, junio, 2009, pp. 400-405 Asociación Interciencia Caracas, Venezuela Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=33911405005 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative HOME RANGE OF MARSH RATS, Holochilus sciureus, A RODENT PEST IN RICE FIELDS OF VENEZUELA Gabriela C. Eiris and Guillermo R. Barreto SUMMARY Radio tracking techniques were used to determine the home tours, fixed kernel and adaptive kernel. Home ranges of males range of marsh rats Holochilus sciureus in rice fields of the and females ranged between 0.6 and 1.3ha depending on the Guárico River Irrigation System, Venezuela, in order to study method of estimation. Male-female range overlap and possible movement patterns of tropical rodents and provide information agonistic interactions between males, suggest male territoriality for the management of this agricultural pest. After being cap- and a polygynic mating system. Males showed greater motility tured using Tomahawk traps, ten adult rats were equipped with than females. The results also reveal relationships between these radio-transmitters and tracked during the 2004 dry season be- rodent movements and environmental changes produced within tween 18:00 and 6:00. Home ranges were estimated based on rice plantations. Ecological studies provide information for an four methods: minimum convex polygon, harmonic mean con- integrated pest control program. ome range is an aspect of 1996; Kenward, 2001; Brown et al., 2003) crops (Agüero, 1979; Cartes, 1979; Agüero ecology that provides an- and this is particularly so in the case of spe- and Castillo, 1981; Cartaya, 1983; Agüero et swers to many biological cies considered as pests in agro-ecosystems. al., 1985; Cartaya and Aguilera, 1985; questions related to population dynamics, so- Rodents have been recognized as important García-Rangel, 2002; Barreto and García- cial interactions, and spacing patterns. Home pests in both agricultural fields and harvest Rangel, 2005). Its average weight is ~130g, range is defined as the area traversed by the storages. Rodent species have also been the but males over 300g have been captured by individual in its normal activities of food focus of many studies of space use and home the authors and by Agüero (1979). This rat gathering, mating and caring for young (Burt, range, mostly in temperate regions. A few feeds mainly on grass stalks, leaving the til- 1943). It varies in size, shape and structure studies, however, have been conducted in lers in mounds on the ground and causing according to the characteristics of the indi- tropical regions (e.g. Endries and Adler, serious damage to the crops mentioned, and vidual, the population and/or the environment 2005) and data is particularly scarce in Latin despair among the farmers (Twigg, 1962, (McNab, 1963; Tew et al., 2000; Saiful et America, where many agro-ecosystems suf- 1965; Martino and Aguilera, 1989). al., 2001; Priotto et al., 2002). The concept fer the outbreaks of rodent populations and Current management of is not synonymous to territory, which refers the concomitant economical consequences. this species in rice fields consists mainly on to an individual’s more or less exclusive area The marsh rat, Holochilus the use of second generation rodenticides and that is defended against the presence of con- sciureus Wagner 1842, is the main rodent bounty schemes. These are applied by the specifics (Murie and Harris, 1978). pest in rice and sugar cane fields in Venezu- growers themselves, with very little planning Spacing patterns are rec- ela and other Neotropical countries. It be- and poor safety precautions. The rodenticides ognized as an important factor for population longs to the Muridae family and is a noctur- are distributed along the banks of the rice regulation (Ostfeld, 1990). Moreover, study- nal semi-aquatic species, possessing mem- tanks, in indiscriminate amounts and with ing animal home range can prove necessary branes in its hind feet and building its nests questionable results. To make things worse, for the design of management strategies above the water level in flooded fields, mak- in outbreak years, growers become desperate (Harris et al., 1990; Seaman and Powell, ing it a very successful rodent in inundated and choose to use organo-phosphide insecti- KEYWORDS / Holochilus sp. / Home Range / Marsh Rat / Pest Control / Rodent Pest / Received: 08/04/2008. Modified: 06/08/2009. Accepted: 06/09/2009. Gabriela C. Eiris. Biologist, Universidad Simón Bolívar (USB), Venezuela. Graduate student, University of Sydney, Australia. e-mail: [email protected] Guillermo R. Barreto. Biologist, Universidad Central de Venezuela. M.Sc. in Biological Sci- ences, USB, Venezuela. D. phil, Oxford University, UK. Professor, USB, Venezuela. Address: Departamento de Biología de Organis- mos. Universidad Simón Bolívar. Caracas 1080-A, Venezuela. e-mail: [email protected] 400 0378-1844/09/06/400-06 $ 3.00/0 JUN 2009, VOL. 34 Nº 6 cides as a “more effective” alternative. The banks surrounding tanks over a 1-2 night pe- by recalculating the area of the minimum main reason for this ill-planned management riod per trapping session between Oct 2003 convex polygon (100% of the fixes) as suc- of H. sciureus is that very little research has and Feb 2004, for a total of 628 trap nights. cessive locations were added. been done on its ecology, with the end result The traps were set and baited using pumpkin that virtually no novel management strategies (Cucurbita maxima) pieces between 16:00 Data analysis have been designed, as it is the case with and 19:00, and were checked and closed be- most tropical rodent pests in South America. tween 6:00 and 10:00 the next day. Rodents Four methods of home Thus, there is the need to study the ecology captured were anesthetized using Halothane range estimation were used: minimum con- of this species with the purpose of offering (Fluothane®), weighed with a dynamometer vex polygons (MCP), harmonic mean con- alternatives regarding its control that are (Pesola AG, Switzerland), measured, and tours (HMC), fixed kernel (FK) and adaptive more cost effective and more environmental- identified to the species level. Those identi- kernel (AK). The percentage of fixes (for ly friendly than those used today. fied as H. sciureus were further classified as MCP), or the utilization distribution in the The home range of H. sci- adults or juveniles according to their weight probabilistic methods (HMC, FK and AK) to ureus in rice fields in Venezuela was previ- (Agüero, 1979). On occasions when trapping be used as estimates of home range were es- ously estimated (±SE) at 0.278 ±0.403ha by efficiency was very low, manual trapping was tablished examining the discontinuities in uti- Cartaya and Aguilera (1984) employing performed taking advantage of the habitat lization plots, which calculate the area of mark-recapture techniques in a 1ha grid and disturbance caused by the plough. Large H. home range cores of different percentages. using minimum convex polygons. They con- sciureus specimens that escaped the plough Home range estimation using the MCP em- sidered this result as an underestimate of the were caught using a net. The rats caught by ployed the established percentage of the loca- real value due to the low capture frequency this method were checked for injuries and tion fixes closest to the center of each ani- and the fact that some individuals were re- then released in a site different from that of mal’s range. We chose the range center as captured 2-3km away from the grid, 1-2 capture because of the lack of vegetation the harmonic mean of the spatial coordinate months after the previous capture. For that cover left by the plough. components to guarantee that it would lay reason, the use of an alternative sampling ap- within an area with high density of location proach, such as radio-tracking, became nec- Tracking program fixes. HMC estimation was performed using essary as well as the use of methods of range a 150×150 matrix without location centering. estimation other than minimum convex poly- A total of 10 adult marsh FK and AK estimations were performed us- gons which have been already proved to be rats, six males and four females, were ing a 40×40 matrix and the smoothing pa- biased (Burgman and Fox, 2003). Therefore, equipped with radiocollars SOM 2380 rameter h was chosen as the median of the this study aims to determine the home range (weight ~10g) or SOM 2070 (weight ~3g) values for each range calculated by least of H. sciureus in rice fields as revealed by from Wildlife Materials, Inc., USA, accord- squares cross validation. To facilitate com- radio-tracking techniques, with the intention ing to each individual’s weight, verifying parisons with other studies, we calculated of improving previous estimations and pro- that the transmitters did not exceed 5% of home range size for each rat using the 100% viding useful information for the develop- the animal’s body mass, percentage that MCP method, the most commonly reported ment of novel management strategies. does not significantly increase their energy method. Areas of intensive use were termed expenditure, following Berteaux et al. core areas and were calculated as 40% of the Study Area (1996). Transmitters for each individual utilization distribution. The ratio of core area were tuned to a different frequency in the to home range (the set percentage for each The study was conducted 219MHz range.