Conservation agriculture practices have changed habitat use by rodent pests: implications for management of feral house mice

Ruscoe, Wendy A.; Brown, Peter R.; Henry, Steve; Weyer, Nikki Van de; Robinson, Freya; Hinds, Lyn A.; Singleton, Grant R.

doi:10.1007/s10340-021-01370-7

Cited by 26 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“… 21 This has created an environment that is more favourable for mice than conventional cropping systems. 22 In contrast to conventional cropping systems, the habitat in CA systems is more complex, with crops growing in amongst crop residue and standing stubble, and in some years high levels of residual grain from the previous crop remaining on the ground. This complexity also means that the ability of mice to detect ZnP bait spread at 1 kg ha –1 (approximately 3 grains m –2 ) may be reduced when compared to conventional systems where all crop residues are buried by tillage and bait is spread onto bare soil.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of background food on alternative grain uptake and zinc phosphide efficacy in wild house mice

Henry

Brown

Weyer

et al. 2021

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND: House mice (Mus musculus) cause significant, ongoing losses to grain crops in Australia, particularly during mouse plagues. Zinc phosphide (ZnP) coated grain is used for control, but with variable success. In a laboratory setting, we tested if mice would (i) switch from consumption of one grain type to another when presented with an alternative and (ii) consume ZnP-treated grains when presented as a choice with a different grain.RESULTS: Mice readily switched from their background grain to an alternative grain, preferring cereals (wheat or barley) over lentils. Mice readily consumed ZnP-coated barley grains. Their mortality rate was significantly higher (86%, n = 30) in the presence of a less-favoured grain (lentils) compared to their mortality rate (47%, n = 29; 53%, n = 30) in the presence of a morefavoured grain (wheat and barley, respectively). Mice died between 4 and 112 h (median = 18 h) after consuming one or more toxic grains. Independent analysis of ZnP-coated grains showed variable toxin loading indicating that consumption of a single grain would not guarantee intake of a lethal dose. There was also a strong and rapid behavioural aversion if mice did not consume a lethal dose on the first night. CONCLUSIONS:The registered dose rate of 25 g of ZnP/kg wheat (∼1 mg of ZnP/grain) in Australia needs to be re-evaluated to determine what factors may be contributing to variation in efficacy. Further field research is also required to understand the complex association between ZnP dose, and quantity and quality of background food on efficacy of ZnP baits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of background food on alternative grain uptake and zinc phosphide efficacy in wild house mice

Henry

Brown

Weyer

et al. 2021

Pest Management Science

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“…This immediately raises questions about the capacity of mice to find a second or third ZnP25-coated grain prior to the onset of symptoms of toxicity in the complex environment in paddocks where conservation agriculture (CA) is practised. 22 In our laboratory assessment where food was provided at the same time as the ZnP-coated grain, the proportion of mice dying was lower regardless of the ZnP dose per grain as mice ate fewer ZnP-coated grains (Table 3). The artificial nature of the laboratory comparison indicates that further comparative studies in CA cropping systems are required.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…This may also be influenced by the broadscale adoption of conservation agriculture practices which provide increased cover and reduced soil disturbance. 22 These observations have raised questions such as: (1) have mice become tolerant to the toxin? (2) has presentation of the toxin on cereal grain led to higher levels of bait aversion?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute oral toxicity of zinc phosphide: an assessment for wild house mice in Australia

Hinds

Henry

Weyer

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BACKGROUND: The efficacy of zinc phosphide (ZnP) for broadacre control of wild house mice in Australia is being reported by growers as increasingly variable. Have mice become less sensitive over time or are they taking a sub-lethal dose and developing aversion? In this laboratory study the sensitivity of groups of wild caught and an outbred laboratory strain of mice was assessed using oral gavage of a range of ZnP concentrations. The willingness of mice to consume ZnP-coated grains was then determined. RESULTS: Each mouse group had very similar LD50 values (72 to 79 mg ZnP per kg body weight) which are significantly higher than previously reported. Time to death post-gavage ranged between 2.5 to 48 h. ZnP coated grains (50 mg ZnP per kg grain) presented in the absence of alternative food were consumed and 94 percent of wild mice died. Mice provided with alternative food and ZnP coated wheat grains (either 25 or 50 mg ZnP per kg grain) consumed toxic and non-toxic grains, and mortality was lower (33 to 55 percent). If a sublethal amount of ZnP coated grain was consumed, aversion occurred mostly in the presence of alternative food. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity of wild house mice to ZnP in Australia is significantly lower than previously assumed. Under laboratory conditions ZnP coated grains coated with a new higher dose (50 mg ZnP per kg grain) were readily consumed. Consumption of toxic grain occurred when alternative food was available but was decreased. It is important to assess the efficacy of the higher ZnP dose per grain under natural field conditions, especially when background food is low.

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“…Various measures of trap success, adjusted trap success (ATS), minimum number of animals known alive (MNKA) or Petersen density estimates have been used previously for estimating house mouse abundance in Australia (e.g. Singleton 1987Singleton , 1989Twigg et al 1991;Singleton and Chambers 1996;Brown et al 1997;Ruscoe et al 2022). Pocock et al (2004) cautioned against the use of MNKA because of bias.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It’s a trap: effective methods for monitoring house mouse populations in grain-growing regions of south-eastern Australia

Brown

Henry²,

Pech³

et al. 2022

Wildl. Res.

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Context. Wild house mice cause substantial economic damage to grain crops in Australia, particularly during mouse plagues. Populations were monitored to detect changes in abundance, with data from surveys used in models to forecast likely mouse outbreaks. However, it is not always feasible to use live-trapping (the 'gold standard') for assessing mouse abundance at a large number of monitoring sites spread across south-eastern Australia. A range of alternative methods was tried to assist the grains industry with strategic decisions to reduce crop damage.Aims. The aim of this work was to determine which survey methods could provide useful and effective indexes of mouse abundance across a large area.Methods. Monitoring of mouse populations was conducted at representative grain farms by using (1) live-trapping at long-term 'benchmark' sites (n ¼ 2), and (2) mouse chew cards and active burrow counts at 'rapid-assessment' sites (n ¼ 44 farms across 5 regions). Monitoring was conducted for 22 monitoring sessions over 7.5 years through low, medium and high mouse abundance conditions.Key results. Live-trapping provided the most useful, but most resource-intensive, information. There were strong relationships between the index of mouse abundance from live-trapping with mouse chew cards and active burrow counts at a local (explaining 63% and 71% of variation respectively) and regional (explaining 71% and 81% of variation respectively) scales. The same quantitative relationship held between the mouse chew cards and trapping regardless of season and year. However, the relationship between active burrow counts and trapping was best in winter and autumn seasons. There was a strong relationship between mouse abundance from live-trapping and active burrows across 1 ha grids (R 2 ¼ 0.88). We determined there were 1.3 AE 0.2 (mean AE s.e.) mice per active burrow.Conclusions. Live-trapping supplemented with data from chew cards and active burrows remains sufficient to monitor a wide range of sites to show regional trends.Implications. It is likely that live-trapping will need to be used for the foreseeable future to provide useful parameters such as breeding condition and population abundance that are required for the forecast models. Supplementary monitoring at rapid-assessment sites (using chew cards in all seasons and active burrow counts particularly in autumn and winter), that can be collected easily without the need for animal handling, will provide additional indications of region-specific changes in mouse abundance and activity.

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Conservation agriculture practices have changed habitat use by rodent pests: implications for management of feral house mice

Cited by 26 publications

References 54 publications

Effects of background food on alternative grain uptake and zinc phosphide efficacy in wild house mice

Effects of background food on alternative grain uptake and zinc phosphide efficacy in wild house mice

Acute oral toxicity of zinc phosphide: an assessment for wild house mice in Australia

It’s a trap: effective methods for monitoring house mouse populations in grain-growing regions of south-eastern Australia

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