Understanding of relationships between ground cover and rat abundances: An integrative approach for management of the oil palm agroecosystem

Published Date
Crop Protection
October 2011, Vol.30(10):1263–1268, doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2011.05.025

• Author 

• C.L. Puan ^a,b,,
• A.W. Goldizen ^c
• M. Zakaria ^a
• G.S. Baxter ^d

• aFaculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
• bThe University of Queensland, School of Integrative Systems, Gatton QLD 4343, Australia
• cThe University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia
• dThe University of Queensland, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia

Received 21 September 2010. Revised 23 May 2011. Accepted 25 May 2011. Available online 22 June 2011. 

Abstract

Ground cover is an essential element in the selection of habitats by small mammals. It provides shelter, foraging opportunities and a hiding place from predators. In oil palm plantations rodents are abundant yet the relationships between ground cover structure and rats are not well understood. Plantation management emphasizes maximisation of oil palm yield by reducing rat damage and competition from weeds, typically through chemical control. This study examined the relationships between ground cover, including undergrowth and frond piles, and rat abundance. Rat trapping and vegetation assessment were conducted simultaneously in five study plots in the Labu Estate, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Over 21,000 trap-nights 1190 individual rats were captured and these data were analysed using spatial analysis by distance indices (SADIE). No significant clustering of rats was observed within any plot over time. Redundancy analyses suggested that the overall occurrence of rats, especially Rattus argentiventer, was positively correlated with vegetation cover and height. This implies that habitat complexity is important to rats, even in a relatively simple agroecosystem. Results of the SADIE analyses were inconsistent, perhaps due to highly variable management practices in the plantations. The findings from this study suggest that using an integrated approach in the control of both weeds and rats in oil palm plantations may maximise the benefits from weeding while reducing the production loss due to rats and the need for chemical control of rats.

Highlights

► Occurrence of rats was positively correlated with vegetation cover and height. ► Occurrence of rats was positively correlated with certain vegetation associations. ► Correlations between rat occurrence and ground materials may be species-specific and vary according to palm age.

Keywords

Vegetation cover

Rattus argentiventer

Oil palms

Weeds

Spatial associations

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• ∗ 
  Corresponding author. Present address: Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Tel.: +603 8946 7183.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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