title: Habitat evaluation for outbreak of Yangtze voles (Microtus fortis) and management implications.
abstract: Rodent pests severely damage agricultural crops. Outbreak risk models of rodent pests often do not include sufficient information regarding geographic variation. Habitat plays an important role in rodent-pest outbreak risk, and more information about the relationship between habitat and crop protection is urgently needed. The goal of the present study was to provide an outbreak risk map for the Dongting Lake region and to understand the relationship between rodent-pest outbreak variation and habitat distribution. The main rodent pests in the Dongting Lake region are Yangtze voles (Microtus fortis). These pests cause massive damage in outbreak years, most notably in 2007. Habitat evaluation and ecological details were obtained by analyzing the correlation between habitat suitability and outbreak risk, as indicated by population density and historical events. For the source-sink population, 96.18% of Yangtze vole disaster regions were covered by a 10-km buffer zone of suitable habitat in 2007. Historical outbreak frequency and peak population density were significantly correlated with the proportion of land covered by suitable habitat (r = 0.68, P = 0.04 and r = 0.76, P = 0.03, respectively). The Yangtze vole population tends to migrate approximately 10 km in outbreak years. Here, we propose a practical method for habitat evaluation that can be used to create integrated pest management plans for rodent pests when combined with basic information on the biology, ecology and behavior of the target species.
authors.affiliation: Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.|Hu Nan City University, Yiyang, China.
authors.forename: Zhenggang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Hu Nan City University, Yiyang, China.
authors.forename: Yunlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Meiwen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Dongting Lake Station for Wetland Ecosystem Observation and Research, Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D012375:Rodent Control
keywords: Yangtze vole; geographical information systems; habitat evaluation; remote sensing; rodent pest management