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Raptor habitat management and its implication on the biological control of the Hantavirus

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Abstract

Rodents have a high impact on human activities, producing economical losses and diseases. One of these diseases is Hantavirus syndrome, whose reservoir is Oligoryzomys longicaudatus. Raptors are the natural biological controllers of rodents, being, therefore, our efficient and effective allies. Despite the existing legal dispositions for protection, 11 of the 33 species of raptors in Chile have conservation problems. We evaluated the effectiveness of nest boxes for Tyto alba, as a way to increase its population and propose a procedure for the biological control of O. longicaudatus. The study area was the National Reserve Lago Peñuelas, Valparaíso, Chile. The variation of population density before and after the installation of the nest boxes was established both for T. alba and rodents. The results show that the nest boxes installed dramatically increased the population and the total density of T. alba, and a significant reduction of the abundance of small mammals was stated. We propose a methodological diagram for the biological control of the reservoir of the Hantavirus, which we have been implementing since 2001.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to project CHI/01/G09, GEF/PPS/PNUD, executed by the Centro de Estudios Agrarios y Ambientales, to the Forest National Corporation V Region, by the logistical support in the RN Lago Peñuelas. We are also thankful to Susan Fletcher, Pamela Sánchez, Basilio Guiñez, Alexander Fontaine, Javiera Meza, Rocío Sanhueza, Nuria Serena, Aladino Erices, Josefina Rivera, and Jill Morrison for the aid in different stages of the study, from field work to logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile

    Andrés Muñoz-Pedreros

  2. Centro de Estudios Agrarios y Ambientales, Valdivia, Chile

    Claudia Gil

  3. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Santiago de Chile, Chile

    José Yáñez

  4. Laboratorio de Ecología, Depto. de Ciencias Básicas & Programa IBAM, Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile

    Jaime R. Rau

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  1. Andrés Muñoz-Pedreros
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Correspondence to Andrés Muñoz-Pedreros.

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Muñoz-Pedreros, A., Gil, C., Yáñez, J. et al. Raptor habitat management and its implication on the biological control of the Hantavirus. Eur J Wildl Res 56, 703–715 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-010-0364-2

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