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- Title
Monitoring for the presence of invasive arboreal rodents: an assessment of monitoring tools across forest strata.
- Authors
Nance, Alexandra H.; Wilson, Melinda; Cook, Carly N.; Clarke, Rohan H.
- Abstract
Accurate detection of invasive rodents is essential to guide appropriate management responses, including effective control. Due to the arboreal behaviour of some invasive rodent species, above-ground monitoring may provide managers with a clearer picture of rodent presence. Numerous ground-based rodent monitoring tools have been tested and compared, but how these tools perform in an arboreal context is unknown. Our study sought to compare the strata-specific detection capability of three widely applied rodent monitoring tools using a nested design. Over two month-long periods, we deployed 180 monitoring stations at the ground, mid-storey and canopy across 30 sites within a National Park forest. Each monitoring station consisted of a camera trap, chew card and tracking tunnel positioned to detect rodent presence. Device agreement was high, with all devices detecting rodent presence at 50% of stations. Chew cards were the most sensitive above-ground tool, implied by positive rodent detection 90% of the time, while tracking tunnels and camera traps generated a positive detection 74% and 75% of the time respectively. Low equipment costs also made chew cards the most cost-effective method. Detection performance differed according to the strata in which the device was deployed, thus a combination of methods that includes camera traps and chew cards was most effective when implementing a three-dimensional rodent monitoring network in forests. While not all methods are equal, traditionally ground-based rodent monitoring devices can be used to effectively monitor arboreal rodent activity. We provide evidence-based guidance for invasive rodent monitoring in an arboreal context to support future invasive rodent population control or eradication programs.
- Subjects
NORFOLK Island; RODENTS; RODENT populations; ANIMAL traps; RODENT control; EARTH stations; PITFALL traps; FOREST reserves
- Publication
Biological Invasions, 2024, Vol 26, Issue 3, p875
- ISSN
1387-3547
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10530-023-03216-y