Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Population dynamics of Rattus argentiventer, Rattus losea, and Rattus rattus inhabiting a mixed-farming system in the Red River Delta, Vietnam

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

Rodent pests cause significant damage to lowland irrigated rice crops in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. Data from a 4-year study were examined to look at the population dynamics of the ricefield rat, Rattus argentiventer (representing 50% of captures), the lesser ricefield rat, Rattus losea (30% of captures), and the black rat, Rattus rattus complex (9% of captures) that inhabit the irrigated mixed-cropping system. We tested the hypothesis that these rodent species were breeding in response to the availability of high-quality food provided by crops rather than in response to rainfall. The abundance of rodents fluctuated annually, with a main peak following the spring rice crop, and a secondary peak following the summer rice crop. There was a strong relationship between the monthly abundance of rats and rainfall, but a weak relationship between monthly rates of increase and rainfall. There were distinct peaks in breeding activity during the reproductive stages of the rice crops suggesting that changes in crop stages were more important than rainfall in this seasonal, but irrigated agroecosystem. The modal litter size for R. argentiventer was 8 (mean of 8.67±0.20 SE, range 2–16), where the mode for R. losea, was 7 (mean of 7.32±0.15 SE, range 3–14). Management of these species needs to be conducted prior to the onset of the main breeding seasons.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aplin KP, Brown PR, Jacob J, Krebs CJ, Singleton GR (2003a) Field methods for rodent studies in Asia and the Indo-Pacific. ACIAR monograph 100. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra

  • Aplin KP, Chesser T, ten Have J (2003b) Evolutionary biology of the genus Rattus: profile of an archetypal rodent pest. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Krebs CJ, Spratt D (eds) Rats, mice and people: rodent biology and management. ACIAR monograph 96. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 487–498

    Google Scholar 

  • Begon M, Harper JL, Townsend CR (1996) Ecology—individuals, populations, and communities. Blackwell, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Bilenca DN, Zuleta GA, Kravetz FO (1994) Latitudinal variation in litter size and length of the breeding season in populations of pampas mice, Akodon azare. Mammalia 58:563–568

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown PR, Singleton GR (1999) Rate of increase as a function of rainfall for house mouse Mus domesticus populations in a cereal-growing region in southern Australia. J Appl Ecol 36:484–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown PR, Hung NQ, Hung NM, van Wensveen M (1999) Population ecology and management of rodent pests in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Leirs H, Zhang Z (eds) Ecologically based management of rodent pests. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 319–337

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown PR, Tuan NP, Banks PB (in press) Movements, habitat use and response of ricefield rats to removal in an intensive cropping system in Vietnam. Belg J Zool

  • Choquenot D, Ruscoe WA (2000) Mouse population eruptions in New Zealand forests: the role of population density and seedfall. J Appl Ecol 69:1058–1070

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccard JA, Ylönen H (2002) Direct interference or indirect exploitation? An experimental study of fitness costs of interspecific competition in voles. Oikos 99:580–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henttonen H, McGuire AD, Hansson L (1985) Comparisons of amplitudes and frequencies (spectral analysis) of density variations in long-term data sets of Clethrionomys species. Ann Zool Fenn 22:221–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacob J, Sudarmaji, Singleton GR (2003) Ecologically based management of rice-field rats on a village scale in West Java: experimental approach and assessment of habitat use. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Krebs CJ, Spratt D (eds) Rats, mice and people: rodent biology and management. ACIAR monograph 96. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 191–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam YM (1980) Reproductive behaviour of the rice field rat, Rattus argentiventer and implications for its control. Proceedings of the National Rice Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp 243–257

  • Lam YM (1982) Rats as rice field pests—their importance and control. In: Khoo KC (ed) Rodent pests of agricultural crops in Malaysia. Plant Protection Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp 9–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam YM (1983) Reproduction in the ricefield rat Rattus argentiventer. Malay Nat J 36:249–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Lan LP, Aplin KP, Hung NM, Quoc NV, Chien HV, Sang ND, Singleton GR (2003) Rodent communities and historical trends in rodent damage in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: establishing an ecological basis for effective pest management. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Krebs CJ, Spratt D (eds) Rats, mice and people: rodent biology and management. ACIAR monograph 96. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 290–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Leirs H, Verhagen R, Verheyen W, Mwanjabe P, Mbise T (1996) Forecasting rodent outbreaks in Africa—an ecological basis for Mastomys control in Tanzania. J Appl Ecol 33:937–943

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung LKP, Singleton GR, Sudarmaji Rahmini (1999) Ecologically based population management of the rice-field rat in Indonesia. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Leirs H, Zhang Z (eds) Ecologically based management of rodent pests. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 305–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewellen RH, Vessey SH (1998) The effect of density dependence and weather on population size of a polyvoltine species. Ecol Monogr 6:571–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Lima M, Jaksic FM (1999) Population rate of change in the leaf-eared mouse: the role of density-dependence, seasonality and rainfall. Aust J Ecol 24:110–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long CA (1973) Reproduction, growth, and development in high-latitude and low-latitude populations of Peromyscus leucopus (Rodentia). Southwest Nat 18:11–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall JT (1977) Family Muridae: rats and mice. In: Lekagul B, McNeely JA (eds) Mammals of Thailand. Association of Conservation of Wildlife, Bangkok, pp 397–487

    Google Scholar 

  • Murakami O, Priyono J, Tristiani H (1990) Population management of the ricefield rat in Indonesia. In: Quick GR (eds) Rodents and rice. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines, pp 49–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Nitatpattana N, Henrich T, Palabodeewat S, Tangkanakul W, Poonsuksombat D, Chauvancy G, Barbazan P, Yoksan S, Gonzalez JP (2002) Hantaan virus antibody prevelance in populations of several provinces of northeastern Thailand. Trop Med Int Health 7:840–845

    Google Scholar 

  • Saitoh T, Stenseth NC, Bjørnstad ON (1998) The population dynamics of the vole Clethrionomys rufocanus in Hokkaido, Japan. Res Popul Ecol 40:61–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Shih CM, Wang JC, Chao LL, Wu TN (1998) Lyme disease in Taiwan: first human patient with characteristic erythema chronicum migrans skin lesion. J Clin Microbiol 36:807–808

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singleton GR (1997) Integrated management of rodents: a southeast Asian and Australian perspective. Belg J Zool 127:157–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Singleton GR (2003) Impacts of rodents on rice production in Asia. (IRRI discussion paper series no. 43) International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines

  • Singleton GR, Brown PR (1999) Management of mouse plagues in Australia: integration of population ecology, bio-control and best farm practice. In: Cowan DP, Feare CJ (eds) Advances in vertebrate pest management. Filander, Berlin, pp 189–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Singleton GR, Petch DA (1994) A review of the biology and management of rodent pests in Southeast Asia. ACIAR technical report no. 30. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra

  • Southgate R, Masters P (1996) Fluctuations of rodent populations in response to rainfall and fire in a Central Australian hummock grassland dominated by Plectrachne schinzii. Wildl Res 23:289–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suntsov VV, Huong LTV, Suntsova NI, Gratz NG (1997) Plague foci in Vietnam: zoological and parasitological aspects. Bull WHO 75:117–123

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tkadlec E, Stenseth NC (2001) A new geographic gradient in vole population dynamics. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 268:1547–1552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trillmich F (2000) Effects of low temperature and photoperiod on reproduction in the female wild guinea pig (Cavia aperea). J Mammal 81:586–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tristiani H, Murakami O (2003) Rates of population increase in the ricefield rat (Rattus argentiventer) as a function of food supply: an enclosure study in Jatisari, West Java. J Zool 259:239–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tristiani H, Priyono J, Murakami O (1998) Seasonal changes in the population density and reproduction of the ricefield rat, Rattus argentiventer (Rodentia: Muridae), in West Java. Mammalia 62:227–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuan NP, Williams SJ, Brown PR, Singleton GR, Tan TQ, Hue DT, Ha PTT, Hoa PT (2003) Farmers’ perceptions and practices in rat management in Vinh Phuc Province, northern Vietnam. In: Singleton GR, Hinds LA, Krebs CJ, Spratt D (eds) Rats, mice and people: rodent biology and management. ACIAR monograph 96. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 399–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Vejaratpimol R, Liat LB (1983) Age estimation of Rattus argentiventer from eye lens weight. J Sci Soc Thai 9:107–118

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all the village heads and farmers involved in the project for their support and willingness to participate in the project. Staff of the National Institute for Plant Protection, Vietnam, provided excellent support while in the field and getting the project underway. In particular we thank Le Than Hoa, Pham Thi Lien, and Pham Van Kien. We thank Drs J. Jacobs and K. Williams for critical comments on the manuscript. This research is part of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research funded project Management of Rodents in Rice-Based Farming Systems of Southeast Asia (AS1 98/36) and was conducted in accordance with the Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes. The approval nos. were WEAEC 98/99-09 and SEAEC 01/02-09.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Grant R. Singleton

    Present address: International Rice Research Institute, Metro Manila, Philippines

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, GPO Box 284, 2601, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Peter R. Brown & Grant R. Singleton

  2. National Institute of Plant Protection, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Phu Tuan, Dao Thi Hue, Phung Thi Hoa, Phi Thi Thu Ha, Tran Quang Tan & Nguyen Van Tuat

Authors
  1. Peter R. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nguyen Phu Tuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Grant R. Singleton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dao Thi Hue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Phung Thi Hoa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Phi Thi Thu Ha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tran Quang Tan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Nguyen Van Tuat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter R. Brown.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brown, P.R., Tuan, N.P., Singleton, G.R. et al. Population dynamics of Rattus argentiventer, Rattus losea, and Rattus rattus inhabiting a mixed-farming system in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Popul Ecol 47, 247–256 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-005-0228-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-005-0228-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation