Latest Articles from NeoBiota Latest 2 Articles from NeoBiota https://neobiota.pensoft.net/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 11:27:21 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://neobiota.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from NeoBiota https://neobiota.pensoft.net/ Scalability of genetic biocontrols for eradicating invasive alien mammals https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/82394/ NeoBiota 74: 93-103

DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.74.82394

Authors: Aysegul Birand, Phillip Cassey, Joshua V. Ross, Paul Q. Thomas, Thomas A. A. Prowse

Abstract: CRISPR-based gene drives offer novel solutions for controlling invasive alien species, which could ultimately extend eradication efforts to continental scales. Gene drives for suppressing invasive alien vertebrates are now under development. Using a landscape-scale individual-based model, we present the first estimates of times to eradication for long-lived alien mammals. We show that demography and life-history traits interact to determine the scalability of gene drives for vertebrate pest eradication. Notably, optimism around eradicating smaller-bodied pests (rodents and rabbits) with gene-drive technologies does not easily translate into eradication of larger-bodied alien species (cats and foxes).

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Short Communication Thu, 7 Jul 2022 18:20:58 +0300
Combining live and lethal trapping to inform the management of alien invasive rodent populations in a tropical montane forest https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/53811/ NeoBiota 63: 101-125

DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.63.53811

Authors: Quiterie Duron, Thomas Cornulier, Eric Vidal, Edouard Bourguet, Lise Ruffino

Abstract: On large inhabited islands where complete eradication of alien invasive rodents through the use of poison delivery is often not practical or acceptable, mechanical trapping may represent the only viable option to reduce their impact in areas of high biodiversity value. However, the feasibility of sustained rodent control by trapping remains uncertain under realistic operational constraints. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of non-toxic rat control strategies through a combination of lethal and live-trapping experiments, and scenario modelling, using the example of a remote montane rainforest of New Caledonia. Rat densities, estimated with spatially-explicit capture-recapture models, fluctuated seasonally (9.5–33.6 ind.ha-1). Capture probability (.01–.25) and home range sizes (HR95, .23–.75 ha) varied greatly according to trapping session, age class, sex and species. Controlling rats through the use of lethal trapping allowed maintaining rat densities at ca. 8 ind.ha-1 over a seven-month period in a 5.5-ha montane forest. Simulation models based on field parameter estimates over a 200-ha pilot management area indicated that without any financial and social constraints, trapping grids with the finest mesh sizes achieved cumulative capture probabilities > .90 after 15 trapping days, but were difficult to implement and sustain with the local workforce. We evaluated the costs and effectiveness of alternative trapping strategies taking into account the prevailing set of local constraints, and identified those that were likely to be successful. Scenario modelling, informed by trapping experiments, is a flexible tool for informing the design of sustainable control programs of island-invasive rodent populations, under idiosyncratic local circumstances.

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Research Article Tue, 8 Dec 2020 08:31:57 +0200