Population dynamics of house mice in Queensland grain-growing areas

Abstract

Context Irregular plagues of house mice cause high production losses in grain crops in Australia. If plagues can be forecast through broad-scale monitoring or model-based prediction, then mice can be proactively controlled by poison baiting. Aims To predict mouse plagues in grain crops in Queensland and assess the value of broad-scale monitoring. Methods Regular trapping of mice at the same sites on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland has been undertaken since 1974. This provides an index of abundance over time that can be related to rainfall, crop yield, winter temperature and past mouse abundance. Other sites have been trapped over a shorter time period elsewhere on the Darling Downs and in central Queensland, allowing a comparison of mouse population dynamics and cross-validation of models predicting mouse abundance. Key results On the regularly trapped 32-km transect on the Darling Downs, damaging mouse densities occur in 50% of years and a plague in 25% of years, with no detectable increase in mean monthly mouse abundance over the past 35 years. High mouse abundance on this transect is not consistently matched by high abundance in the broader area. Annual maximum mouse abundance in autumn–winter can be predicted (R2 = 57%) from spring mouse abundance and autumn–winter rainfall in the previous year. In central Queensland, mouse dynamics contrast with those on the Darling Downs and lack the distinct annual cycle, with peak abundance occurring in any month outside early spring. On average, damaging mouse densities occur in 1 in 3 years and a plague occurs in 1 in 7 years. The dynamics of mouse populations on two transects ~70 km apart were rarely synchronous. Autumn–winter rainfall can indicate mouse abundance in some seasons (R2 = ~52%). Conclusion Early warning of mouse plague formation in Queensland grain crops from regional models should trigger farm-based monitoring. This can be incorporated with rainfall into a simple model predicting future abundance that will determine any need for mouse control. Implications A model-based warning of a possible mouse plague can highlight the need for local monitoring of mouse activity, which in turn could trigger poison baiting to prevent further mouse build-up.

Improved house mouse control in the field with a higher dose zinc phosphide bait

“…Wild house mice (Mus musculus) in Australia undergo periodic plagues over vast areas of agricultural land, with densities exceeding 800 mice/ha, resulting in serious damage to agricultural crops (Singleton et al 2005). Records of mouse plagues in New South Wales (Saunders and Giles 1977), Victoria and South Australia (Mutze 1989), coupled with reports from Queensland (Caughley et al 1994;Pople et al 2013), and to a lesser extent Western Australia (Chapman 1981), indicate that, on average, a plague occurs in at least one state in Australia every 4 years, most commonly in the cereal-growing regions (Singleton et al 2005). The 1993, mouse plague that affected South Australia and Victoria was estimated to have caused A$64.5 million (in 1993) worth of damage to cereal crops (Caughley et al 1994), with off-farm costs (reflecting mouse damage to infrastructure, produce, and the cost of cleaning up) conservatively estimated to be A$1 million (Caughley et al 1994).…”

“…Records of mouse plagues in New South Wales (Saunders and Giles 1977), Victoria and South Australia (Mutze 1989), coupled with reports from Queensland (Caughley et al . 1994; Pople et al . 2013), and to a lesser extent Western Australia (Chapman 1981), indicate that, on average, a plague occurs in at least one state in Australia every 4 years, most commonly in the cereal-growing regions (Singleton et al .…”

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

“…A new benchmark site has recently been established near Parkes in the Central West of New South Wales, which is representative of the farming system through much of New South Wales (including fodder production and grazing components) with a higher and summer-dominant rainfall distribution (annual mean ,608 mm, 37 years from 1942, annual CV ¼ 32%, April-October growing season mean ¼ 322, CV ¼ 38%, from the BOM Station 65068 at Parkes Airport). On the central Darling Downs of Queensland, some long-term monitoring sites have been monitored since 1974 by using snap traps to detect changes in mouse population abundance (Pople et al 2013). A similar analysis should be undertaken to investigate the relationship of snap traps with live traps, chew cards and active burrows counts for these Darling Downs sites; however, this was outside the scope of the current analysis.…”

Improved house mouse control in the field with a higher dose zinc phosphide bait.

“…Wild house mice (Mus musculus) in Australia undergo periodic plagues over vast areas of agricultural land with densities exceeding 800 mice/ha, resulting in serious damage to agricultural crops (Singleton et al 2005). Records of mouse plagues in New South Wales (Saunders and Giles 1977), Victoria and South Australia (Mutze 1989), coupled with reports from Queensland (Caughley et al 1994;Pople et al 2013), and to a lesser extent Western Australia (Chapman 1981), indicate that, on average, a plague occurs in at least one state in Australia every four years, most commonly in the cereal growing regions (Singleton et al 2005). The 1993 mouse plague that affected South Australia and Victoria was estimated to have caused AU$64.5M (in 1993) worth of damage to cereal crops (Caughley et al 1994), with offfarm costs (reflecting mouse damage to infrastructure, produce, and the cost of cleaning up) conservatively estimated to be AU$1M (Caughley et al 1994).…”