A multi-scale bio-economic approach to optimising the management of emerging rodent crop pest

该项目将制定农田环境中田鼠害虫控制的生物经济模型并将其参数化（例如Stenseth等人，2003年），以优化综合管理战略的有效性，最大限度地减少对非目标物种的影响。它将根据经验估计关键变量，包括：1）田鼠数量与作物损害之间的关系; 2）与使用毒素的季节性时间和脆弱迁徙物种或地方物种的存在有关的非目标动物的二次中毒风险; 3）使用毒素的替代办法，如通过焚烧或刮擦管理田地边缘，对田鼠和非目标物种的影响，4）通过使用牛、模拟牛或深耕，旨在破坏洞穴系统的土壤管理的有效性。优化模型将用于探索监测的价值，以便能够在爆发的发展中进行早期和更良性的干预，例如，在基本上没有树木的密集养殖景观中，在孤立的田鼠群体上部署猛禽栖息地。农民对管理模式的接受程度将主要通过与农民合作社进行访谈和举办讲习班来评估。

This project will formulate and parameterise bio-economic models of vole pest control in farmland environment (e.g. Stenseth et al. 2003) so as to optimise the effectiveness of integrated management strategies that minimise the impact on non-target species. It will empirically estimate key variables including: 1) the relationship between vole abundance and damage to crops; 2) the risk of secondary poisoning by non-target fauna in relation to the seasonal timing of toxin use and presence of vulnerable migratory or endemic species; 3) the impact of alternatives to the use of toxins such as management of field margins by burning or scraping, both on voles and non-target species, 4) the effectiveness of soil management aimed at collapsing burrow systems, either through the use of cattle, simulated cattle or deep ploughing. Optimisation models will be used to explore the value of monitoring to enable early and more benign interventions in the development of outbreaks through, for example, the deployment of raptor perches over isolated vole colonies in largely tree-less intensively farmed landscapes. The acceptability of management models by farmers will be mainly assessed through interviews and workshops with farmer's cooperatives.