Multiscale environmental determinants of rats’ infestation on households in a subtropical urban to rural gradient in Latin America

Eliana F. Burgos; Isabel E. Gómez Villafañe; M. Soledad Santini; M. Gabriela Quintana; Oscar D. Salomón; Regino Cavia

doi:10.25260/EA.23.33.1.0.1995

Authors

Eliana F. Burgos Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G.Malbrán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Argentina
Isabel E. Gómez Villafañe Departamento de Ecología,Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Institutode Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (UBA-CONICET). Argentina
M. Soledad Santini Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Argentina. Centro Nacional de Diagnóstico eInvestigación en Endemo-epidemias Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán”. Leishmaniasis Investigation Network of Argentina (REDILA). Argentina
M. Gabriela Quintana Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G.Malbrán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Argentina. Leishmaniasis Investigation Network of Argentina (REDILA). Argentina. Instituto Superior de Entomología, Facultad deCiencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Argentina
Oscar D. Salomón Instituto Nacional de Medicina Tropical, Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G.Malbrán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Argentina. Leishmaniasis Investigation Network of Argentina (REDILA). Argentina
Regino Cavia Departamento de Ecología,Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Institutode Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (UBA-CONICET). Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.23.33.1.0.1995

Keywords:

hair traps, household characteristics, landscape, predictive map, Rattus rattus, spatial scale

Abstract

Strategies for the prevention and control of commensal rodents would improve with better knowledge of their response to environmental factors from different spatial scales. In this research we evaluated which different scales environmental characteristics determine rodent infestation levels in a subtropical urban to rural landscape gradient in Misiones, Argentina. A total of 87 households from an urban, a periurban and a rural landscape were surveyed at least once, with nine households surveyed repeatedly along five consecutive seasons. Rodent infestation levels were estimated using nontoxic bait stations set up in the backyard and garden of each household. Different environmental characteristics at several spatial scales were obtained from field surveys and land cover classification based on a satellite image. Rattus spp. was detected in 42.5% of the households. The lowest rodent infestations occurred in winter. Infestation levels showed spatial dependence up to 2500 m. Rodent infestation was associated with landscape types and environmental characteristics at the macro and microhabitat scales. Macrohabitat characteristics explained 53.7% of the variation of rodent infestation levels, whereas microscale explained 28.0% and landscape type only 2%. This multiscale study provides evidence that households’ characteristics may not be the most important factor to explain variations in the abundance of commensal rodents’ around human dwellings. As a consequence, prevention and control measures would be more effective if applied at the neighborhood level and during winter, since it is a critical time for preventing compensatory population responses in rodent infestations.

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