Human urine does not protect acorns against predation by the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus): a field study with video recording

Author:

Castro Jorge1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Ecology University of Granada Granada Spain

Abstract

Direct seeding is a revegetation method that can offer great advantages for forest restoration, but suffers the drawback of seed loss due to granivorous rodents. Thus, to make direct seeding a useful and scalable forest restoration method, we need to find ways to protect seeds against rodents. Scents produced by carnivorous or omnivorous animals that elicit a fear response on rodents are a promising group of substances that can be used to protect seeds and that have demonstrated effectiveness in a number of cases. Here, I test if human urine has a protective effect on Holm oak (Quercus ilex) acorns against predation by mice. Human urine would be much easier and cheaper to obtain than the urine of other animals, providing the possibility, if effective, to scale the application of a repellent substance. I set up a field experiment in an area with high wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) abundance and used eight urine donors. Neither urine nor donor had any effect. Acorn removal was very fast and high, reaching 97.2% after 7 days. Video recording with camera traps showed that the wood mouse was the main predator, but the Eurasian jay also removed acorns. I conclude that human urine is not useful as a repellent against mice and suggest to focus efforts in finding other substances to repel seed predators.

Funder

Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación

Publisher

Wiley

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3