Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR07129
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 35(6)

Fertility control of rodent pests

Jens Jacob A D , Grant R. Singleton B and Lyn A. Hinds C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants – Julius Kuehn Institute, Vertebrate Research, Toppheideweg 88, 48161 Münster, Germany.

B International Rice Research Institute, Crop and Environmental Sciences Division, DAPO Box 7777 Metro Manila, Philippines.

C CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: jens.jacob@jki.bund.de

Wildlife Research 35(6) 487-493 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR07129
Submitted: 4 September 2007  Accepted: 30 June 2008   Published: 22 October 2008

Abstract

Ricefield rats (Rattus argentiventer) in south-east Asian rice fields and house mice (Mus domesticus) in Australian grain fields are major pest species. They cause damage before and after harvest and carry zoonotic diseases. For both species, management techniques have been pursued using the approach of immunocontraceptive vaccination. We review results from a series of enclosure and field studies conducted with these species to assess the effects of fertility control in small rodents. In the experiments, fertility control was simulated by tubal ligation, ovariectomy or progesterone treatment. A once-off sterilisation of 50–75% of enclosed founder females considerably reduced reproductive output of ricefield rat populations until the end of the reproductive period. In house mice, similar success was achieved when a sterility level of 67% of female founders and offspring was maintained. Repeated antifertility treatments are required because of the much longer breeding period of house mice versus ricefield rats. Comparing the results of enclosure trials with the outcome of simulation models suggests that partial compensation of treatment effects can occur through enhanced reproduction of the remaining fertile females and improved survival of juveniles. However, such compensatory effects as well as behavioural consequences of sterility in field populations are not likely to prevent the management effect at the population level. The challenge for effective fertility control of small rodents in the field is the wide-scale delivery of an antifertility treatment to founders at the beginning of the breeding season and to fertile immigrants that are recruited into the population, which otherwise contribute to the reproductive output at the population level. Future research efforts should focus on species-specific techniques and on agents that can be effectively delivered via bait.


References

Appt, S. E. , Kaplan, J. R. , Clarkson, T. B. , Cline, J. M. , Christian, P. J. , and Hoyer, P. B. (2006). Destruction of primordial ovarian follicles in adult cynomoigus macaques after exposure to 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide: a nonhuman primate model of the menopausal transition. Fertility and Sterility 86, 1210–1216.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Begon M. (2003). Disease: health effects on humans, population effects on rodents. In ‘Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, C. J. Krebs and D. M. Spratt.) pp. 13–19. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Brakes, C. R. , and Smith, R. H. (2005). Exposure of non-target small mammals to rodenticides: short-term effects, recovery and implications for secondary poisoning. Journal of Applied Ecology 42, 118–128.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Caughley J. , Monamy V. , and Heiden K. (1994). Impacts of the 1993 mouse plague. GRDC Occasional Paper Series No.7. Grains Research and Development Corporation and Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra.

Chambers, L. K. , Singleton, G. R. , and Hood, G. M. (1997). Immunocontraception as a potential control method of wild rodent populations. Belgian Journal of Zoology 127, 145–156.
Chambers L. , Lawson M. , and Hinds L. A. (1999 a). Biological control of rodents – the case for fertility control using immunocontraception. In ‘Ecologically-based Rodent Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, H. Leirs and Z. Zhang.) pp. 215–242. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Chambers, L. K. , Singleton, G. R. , and Hinds, L. A. (1999b). Fertility control of wild mouse populations: the effects of hormonal competence and an imposed level of sterility. Wildlife Research 26, 579–591.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Colvin B. A. , and Jackson W. B. (1999). Urban rodent control programs for the 21st century. In ‘Ecologically-based rodent management’. (Eds G.R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, H. Leirs and Z. Zhang.) pp. 243–257. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Davis S. A. , Pech R. P. , and Singleton G. R. (2003). Simulation of fertility control in an eruptive house mouse (Mus domesticus) population in southeastern Australia. In ‘Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, C. J. Krebs and D.M. Spratt.) pp. 320–324. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Dickman C. R. (1999). Rodent–ecosystem relationships: a review. In ‘Ecologically-based Rodent Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L.A. Hinds, H. Leirs and Z. Zhang.) pp. 113–133. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Duckworth, J. A. , Cui, X. , Scobie, S. , Arrow, J. , and Cowan, P. E. (2008). Development of a contraceptive vaccine for the marsupial brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) lack of effects in mice and chickens immunised with recombinant possum ZP3 protein and a possum ZP3 antifertility epitope. Wildlife Research 35, 563–572.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Elias D. J. , and Fall M. W. (1988). The rodent problem in Latin America. In ‘Rodent Pest Management’. (Ed. I. Prakash.) pp. 13–28. (CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL.)

Fagerstone, K. , Coffey, M. A. , Curtis, P. D. , Dolbeer, R. A. , Killian, G. J. , Miller, L. A. , and Wilmot, L. M. (2002). Wildlife fertility control: technical review. The Wildlife Society – Technical Review 02–2, 1–33.
Hinds L. A. (2006). Immunocontraception of small mammals: case study for the wild house mouse in Australia. In ‘Proceedings of the 22nd Vertebrate Pest Conference’. (Eds R. M. Timm and J. M. O’Brien.) pp. 96–101. (University of California: Davis, CA.)

Hinds L. A. , Hardy C. M. , Lawson M. A. , and Singleton G. R. (2003). Developments in fertility control for pest animal management. In ‘Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, C. J. Krebs and D. M. Spratt). pp. 31–36. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Jackson, R. J. , Maguire, D. J. , Hinds, L. A. , and Ramshaw, I. A. (1998). Infertility in mice induced by a recombinant ectromelia virus expressing mouse zona pellucida glycoprotein 3. Biology of Reproduction 58, 152–159.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Khiem N. T. , Cuong L. Q. , and Chien H. V. (2003). Market study of meat from field rats in the Mekong Delta. In ‘Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, C. J. Krebs and D. M. Spratt). pp. 643–547. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Kidd, K. A. , Blanchfield, P. J. , Mills, K. H. , Palace, V. P. , Evans, R. E. , Lazorchak, J. M. , and Flick, R. W. (2007). Collapse of a fish population after exposure to a synthetic estrogen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104, 8897–8901.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Leung L. K. P. , Singleton G. R. , Sudamaji and Rahmini (1999). Ecologically-based population management of the rice-field rat in Indonesia. In ‘Ecologically-based Rodent Management’. (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, H. Leirs and Z. Zhang.) pp. 305–318. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Marsh R. E. , and Howard W. E. (1970). Chemosterilants as an approach to rodent control. In ‘Proceedings of the 4th Vertebrate Pest Conference’. pp. 55–63. (University of California: Davis, CA.)

Mayer, L. P. , Devine, P. J. , Dyer, C. A. , and Hoyer, P. B. (2004). The follicle-depleted mouse ovary produces androgen. Biology of Reproduction 71, 130–138.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Miller L. A. , Talwar G. P. , and Killian G. J. (2006). Contraceptive effect of a recombinant GnRH vaccine in adult female pigs. In ‘Proceedings of the 22nd Vertebrate Pest Conference’. (Eds R. M. Timm and J. M. O’Brien.) pp. 106–109. (University of California: Davis, CA.)

Myllymäki, A. (1977). Outbreaks and damage by the field vole Mictrotus agrestis (L), since World War II in Europe. EPPO Bulletin 7, 177–207.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Newton I. , Wyllie I. , and Dale L. (1997). Mortality causes in British barn owls (Tyto alba), based on 1,101 carcasses examined during 1963–1996. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NC-190 299–307.

Ohashi T. J. , and Oldenburg J. G. (1992). Endangered species in the Pacific Islands: the role of animal damage control. In ‘Proceedings of the 15th Vertebrate Pest Conference’. (Eds J. E. Borrecco and R. E. Marsh.) pp. 32–35. (University of California: Davis, CA.)

Oogjes, G. (1997). Ethical aspects and dilemmas of fertility control of unwanted wildlife: an animal welfarist’s perspective. Reproduction, Fertility and Development 9, 163–167.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | Singleton G. R. (2003). Impacts of rodents in rice production in Asia. IRRI Discussion Paper Series 45, 1–30.

Singleton, G. R. , and Redhead, T. D. (1990). Structure and biology of hous mouse populations that plague irregularly: an evolutionary perspective. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 41, 285–300.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Singleton G. R. , Hinds L. A. , Leirs H. , and Zhang Z. (1999). ‘Ecologically-based Management of Rodent Pests.’ (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research: Canberra.)

Singleton, G. R. , Farroway, L. N. , Chambers, L. K. , Lawson, M. A. , Smith, A. L. , and Hinds, L. A. (2002). Ecological basis for fertility control in the house mouse (Mus domesticus) using immunocontraceptive vaccines. Reproduction 60, 31–39.
|  CAS | PubMed | Singleton G. R. , Smythe L. , Smith G. , Spratt D. M. , Aplin K. , and Smith A. L. (2003 a). Rodent diseases in southeast Asia and Australia: inventory of recent surveys. In ‘Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management.’ (Eds G. R. Singleton, L. A. Hinds, C. J. Krebs and D. M. Spratt.) pp. 25–30. (ACIAR: Canberra.)

Singleton, G. R. , Sudarmaji, , Tuan, N. P. , Sang, P. M. , Huan, N. H. , Brown, P. R. , Jacob, J. , Heong, K. L. , and Escalada, M. M. (2003b). Reduction in chemical use following integrated ecologically-based rodent management. International Rice Research Notes 28(2), 33–35.


Singleton, G. R. , Brown, P. R. , Pech, R. P. , Jacob, J. , Mutze, G. J. , and Krebs, C. J. (2005a). One hundred years of eruptions of house mice in Australia – a natural biological curio. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 84, 617–627.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Singleton, G. R. , Sudarmaji, , Jacob, J. , and Krebs, C. J. (2005b). An analysis of the effectiveness of integrated management of rodents in reducing damage to lowland rice crops in Indonesia. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 107, 75–82.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Singleton, G. R. , Brown, P. R. , Jacob, J. , Aplin, K. P. , and Sudarmaji, (2007). Unwanted and unintended effects of culling – a case for ecologically-based rodent management. Integrative Zoology 2, 247–259.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Stenseth, N. C. , Leirs, H. , Mercelis, S. , and Mwanjabe, P. (2001). Comparing strategies for controlling an African pest rodent: an empirically based theoretical study. Journal of Applied Ecology 38, 1020–1031.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sullivan, T. P. , Sullivan, D. S. , and Hogue, E. J. (2001). Reinvasion dynamics of northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) populations in removal areas. Crop Protection 20, 189–198.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tristiani, H. , Murakami, O. , and Kuno, E. (2000). Rice plant damage distribution and home range distribution of the ricefield rat Rattus argentiventer (Rodentia: Muridae). Belgian Journal of Zoology 130, 83–91.


Twigg, L. E. , and Williams, C. K. (1999). Fertility control of overabundant species; can it work for feral rabbits? Ecology Letters 2, 281–285.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Twigg, L. E. , Lowe, T. J. , Martin, G. R. , Wheeler, A. G. , Gray, G. S. , Griffin, S. L. , O’Reilly, C. M. , Robinson, D. J. , and Hubach, P. H. (2000). Effects of surgically imposed sterility on free-ranging rabbit populations. Journal of Applied Ecology 37, 16–39.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Tyndale-Biscoe, C. H. , and Hinds, L. A. (2007). Introduction – virally vectored immunocontraception in Australia. Wildlife Research 34, 507–510.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Wan, X. , Shi, Y. , Bao, X. , Guan, Q. , Yu, C. , Wang, G. , Liu, W. , Zhong, W. , Jiao, Y. , and Hasi, Q. (2006). Effect of the contraceptive compound (EP-1) on reproduction of the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus campbelli) in the typical steppe. Acta Theriologica Sinica 26, 392–397.
|  CAS |

Williams, C. K. (2007). Assessment of the risk of inadvertently exporting from Australia a genetically modified immunocontraceptive virus in live mice (Mus musculus domesticus). Wildlife Research 34, 540–554.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Williams, C. K. , Davey, C. C. , Moore, R. J. , Hinds, L. A. , Silvers, L. E. , Kerr, P. J. , French, N. , Hood, G. M. , Pech, R. P. , and Krebs, C. J. (2007). Population responses to sterility imposed on female European rabbits. Journal of Applied Ecology 44, 291–301.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Zhang, Z. B. , Liao, L. F. , Wang, S. Q. , Cao, X. P. , Wang, F. S. , Wang, C. , Zhang, J. X. , Wan, X. R. , and Zhong, W. Q. (2004). Effect of a contraceptive compound (EP-1) on fertility of female Brandt’s voles, gray hamsters and mid-day gerbils. Acta Zoologica Sinica 50, 341–347.