Evaluation of habitat requirements of small rodents and effectiveness of an ecologically-based management in a hantavirus-endemic natural protected area in Argentina

MARÍA VICTORIA VADELL; FRANCISCO GARCÍA ERIZE; ISABEL ELISA GÓMEZ VILLAFAÑE

Integrative Zoology

Wiley Online Library

Año: 2017 vol. 12 p. 77 - 94

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a severe cardio pulmonary disease transmitted to humans by sylvan rodents found in natural and rural environments. Disease transmission is closely linked to the ecology of animal reservoirs and abiotic factors such as habitat characteristics, season, or climatic conditions. The main goals of this research were: to determine the biotic and abiotic factors affecting richness and abundance of rodent species at different spatial scales, to evaluate different methodologies for studying population of small rodents, and to describe and analyze an ecologically-based rodent management experience in a highly touristic area. A four-year study of small rodent ecology was conducted between April 2007 and August 2011 in the most relevant habitats of El Palmar National Park, Argentina. Management included a wide range of control and prevention measures including poisoning, culling and habitat modification. A total of 172 individuals of five species were captured with a trapping effort of 13860 traps-nights (1.24 individuals/100 traps-nights). Five rodent species were captured including two hantavirus-host species, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Akodon azarae. O. nigripes, host of a hantavirus which is pathogenic in humans, was the most abundant species and the only one found in all the studied habitats. Our results are inconsistent with the dilution effect hypothesis. This study demonstrates that sylvan rodent species, including the hantavirus-host species, have distinct local habitat selection and temporal variation patterns in abundance, which may influence the risk of human exposure to hantavirus and may have practical implications for disease transmission as well as for reservoir management.