Imakando, Christopher, Fernández-Grandon, G. Mandela ORCID: 0000-0002-2993-390X, Singleton, Grant R. and Belmain, Steven R. ORCID: 0000-0002-5590-7545 (2021) Impact of fertility versus mortality control on the demographics of Mastomys natalensis in maize fields. Integrative Zoology, 17 (6). pp. 1028-1040. ISSN 1749-4869 (Print), 1749-4877 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12580)

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Abstract

The multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, is the most common rodent pest species in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, rodenticides are the preferred method used to reduce the population of rodent pests, but this method poses direct and indirect risks to humans and other non-target species. Fertility control is a promising alternative that has been argued to be a more sustainable and humane method for controlling rodent pests. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of fertility control bait EP-1 (quinestrol (E) and levonorgestrel (P), 10 ppm) and an anticoagulant rodenticide bait (bromadiolone, 50 ppm) on the population dynamics of M. natalensis in maize fields in Zambia during 2 cropping seasons. M. natalensis was the most abundant species in maize fields (77% of total captures). Fertility control reduced the number of juveniles and suppressed population growth of M. natalensis at the end of the 2019–2020 cropping season. The population density initially decreased after rodenticide treatment, but the population rapidly recovered through immigration. None of the treatments influenced maize damage by rodents at germination (F2,67 = 1.626, P = 0.204). Applying the treatments during the maize seeding time was effective at suppressing population growth at the end of the cropping season than application the month before maize seeding. This research indicates that a single-dose delivery of EP-1 and rodenticide have comparable effects on the population dynamics of M. natalensis. These findings are important in developing fertility control protocols for rodent pest populations to reduce maize crop damage and improve yields.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors. Integrative Zoology published by International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ecologically based rodent management, levonorgestrel, multimammate mouse, quinestrol, rodent pests, rodenticide
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SF Animal culture
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Agriculture, Health & Environment Department Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Pest Behaviour Research Group
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2022 11:21
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/33975

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