Abundance, age structure and reproductive patterns of Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus in two areas of the city of Buenos Aires.

VADELL, MARÍA VICTORIA; CAVIA, REGINO; SUÁREZ, OLGA V.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEST MANAGEMENT

Taylor & Francis

Año: 2010 vol. 56 p. 327 - 336

0967-0874

The aim of this research was to compare the abundance, growth, age structure andreproductive patterns of Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus populations of a shanty townand a parkland in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Live trapping of rodents wasconducted in each area every two months, from September 2006 to August 2007.Abundance of R. norvegicus and M. musculus was significantly higher in the shanty townthan in the parkland. Abundance of both species showed significant differences betweentrapping sessions in both study sites. Both species showed a peak in abundance in summerin the parkland and also in autumn in the shanty town. Age structure of both speciesdiffered between summer-autumn and winter-spring in the shanty town. In the parkland,pregnant females of both species were only found in spring-summer. No significantdifferences were found in any of the reproductive parameters compared between the shantytown and the parkland. Our results suggest that the shanty town represents a favourable butnot constant habitat for rodents through out the year.