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Long‐term population patterns of rodents and associated damage in German forestry
Author(s) -
Imholt Christian,
Reil Daniela,
Plašil Pavel,
Rödiger Kerstin,
Jacob Jens
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.4325
Subject(s) - beech , wood mouse , mast (botany) , rodent , afforestation , abundance (ecology) , biology , population , ecology , microtus , population cycle , fagus sylvatica , geography , apodemus , demography , mast cell , sociology , immunology , predation
BACKGROUND Several rodent species can damage forest trees, especially at young tree age in afforestation. Population outbreaks of field voles ( Microtus agrestis L.) and bank voles ( Myodes glareolus Schreber) in particular can cause losses. RESULTS Analyses of long‐term time series indicate good synchrony of population abundance in rodent species associated with damage in forestry. This synchrony could be related to the effect of beech ( Fagus spec.) mast in the previous year on population growth rates of both species. In shorter time series from Eastern Germany, damage in forestry was mostly associated with autumn abundances of rodents. Environmental factors such as beech mast and snow cover did not explain additional variation in rodent damage to trees. CONCLUSIONS Beech mast is a good indicator of long‐term rodent abundance in Northern German afforestation areas. However, rodent damage to forestry in Central Germany did not seem to depend on environmental parameters other than rodent abundance at large scale. As a result, there is still uncertainty about the link between environmental predictors and rodent damage to forestry, and further experimental work is required to identify suitable environmental drivers and their interplay with other potential factors such as the local predator community. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry