scholarly journals Population dynamics of sewer rats

1953 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Barnett ◽  
A. H. Bathard

1. The effects of poison treatments on the rat populations of two sample districts of heavily infested sewers in a London borough were studied.2. Each district had a maximum rat population represented by a census figure of about 10,000 g. wheat eaten per day, corresponding to at least 400 rats.3. Poison treatments after prebaiting, at intervals of 6 months, reduced the rat population of each district to less than 10% of the maximum. A rapid restoration of the population followed, and the level reached in 6 months was near the maximum.4. In both areas, direct poisoning with sodium monofluoroacetate ‘1080’ was as effective as a prebaiting treatment. Direct poisoning with zinc phosphide was relatively unsuccessful.5. When both areas received double treatments, consisting of direct poisoning with sodium monofluoroacetate followed by a prebaiting treatment, the estimated population of one district was reduced to about 3% of the maximum. In the other area, rain made the second poisoning ineffective.6. The rate at which the population was restored from the 3% level was even higher than the rates previously observed, and was probably too high to be accounted for solely by breeding. Evidently, invasion from the surface played a part.7. No relationship could be established between the estimated sewer rat population densities within each district, and the known sites of surface infestation.We are grateful to the Council and officers of the Borough in which the work was done, for unstinted help throughout the inquiry. We also owe thanks to H. V. Thompson for help in the early stages; to him and to Miss M. D. A. Lawrence for discussing the work during its progress; to Miss M. M. Spencer for help in the analysis of the records and in checking calculations; and to A. G. Jenson for mapping the districts and for drawing the figures.

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2230-2238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Bergeron

Freeland's hypothesis associating the quality of the habitat to the regular cycles of voles has been rejected by many because of the lack of evidence showing among other things that as population densities increase, the proportion of toxic plants in the diet increases. The results of the present study showed that small cyclical mammals prefer to eat nontoxic food first, but failed to show with certainty that the abundance of toxic plants in the diet increases at peak densities. However, voles did utilize more toxic species during the peak density year than during the phase of still increasing densities. By analyzing the importance of toxic plants in the diet for different age and sex groups, it appeared that preadults used much more toxic plants during peak year than during the other phase. The importance of toxic plants and their action on the population dynamics of cyclical voles are discussed.[Journal translation]


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Perrine Moran

Many couples who come for therapy are struggling with separating from unconscious phantasies and beliefs that enmesh each partner with the other, resulting in states that popular songs powerfully epitomise. While this borderline experience is common and functional in the early stages of being in love its persistence paralyses the development of the relationship. Facing separation from and loss of illusion is a challenge couple therapists are often asked to help with. The argument is illustrated by a case, and by references to some of Cole Porter’s best known songs.


1958 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 833-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Wood

The non-protein nitrogenous constituents of muscle of migrating sockeye salmon were investigated. These constituents were found to be the same in both male and female fish and were present in approximately the same amounts in both sexes. The histidine content of the muscle in all fish decreased to one fifth of the original value during the early stages of the migratory journey and remained at the low level thereafter. Some of the other constituents changed to a smaller extent, usually increasing in the later stages of the migration. This was especially noticeable in female fish. However, the increase in the concentration of these constituents in the muscle was due to a decrease in the amount of muscle in the fish rather than to an increase in the amounts of the compounds themselves.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Philip W. Tipping ◽  
Melissa R. Martin ◽  
Jeremiah R. Foley ◽  
Ryan M. Pierce ◽  
Lyn A. Gettys

AbstractThe potential of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. Blake to reinvade cleared areas was evaluated over a 13-yr period that included two wildfires and the introduction of biological control agents. The first wildfire occurred in 1998 and was followed by a mean of 591.5 recruited seedlings m−2. Recruits from that fire were cleared 7 yr later in July 2005 for a second experiment to evaluate seedling recruitment into cleared areas. Seed rain, seedling recruitment and mortality, and sapling growth rates were measured in four plots located around individual large reproductive trees. A second natural wildfire in 2007 burned through those plots, leading to increases in seed rain followed by a pulse in recruitment of 21.04 seedlings m−2, 96.5% fewer than after the 1998 fire. Recruits in half of the plots around each tree were then treated with regular applications of an insecticide to restrict herbivory by biological control agents, while herbivory was not restricted in the other half. There was no difference in seedling mortality between treatments 1,083 d post-fire (2007) with 96.6% seedling mortality in the unrestricted herbivory treatment and 89.4% mortality in the restricted herbivory treatment. Recruits subjected to the restricted herbivory treatment grew taller than those in the unrestricted herbivory treatment, 101.3 cm versus 37.4 cm. Many of the recruits were attacked by the biological control agents, which slowed their growth. Although solitary M. quinquenervia trees retain some capacity to reinvade areas under specific circumstances, there was a downward trend in their overall invasiveness at this site, with progressively smaller recruitment cohorts due to biological control agents. Land managers should prioritize removing large reproductive trees over treating recently recruited populations, which can be left for many years for the biological control agents to suppress before any additional treatment would be needed.


Botany ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (7) ◽  
pp. 421-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.D. Shafiullah ◽  
Christian R. Lacroix

Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. produces two morphologically different forms of leaves based on whether they are aerial or aquatic. The objective of this study was to determine whether there are any similarities or differences between these two growth forms during their early stages of development. A comparative developmental study of aerial and aquatic growth forms of M. aquaticum was conducted from a qualitative and quantitative perspective using a scanning electron microscope. The pattern of leaf and lobe initiation such as their origin and shape were similar in both growth forms until the fourth plastochron (stage P4). Differences between the two growth forms became evident from stage P5 onward, where a larger shoot apical meristem (SAM), elongated epidermal cells, shorter and slightly more numerous lobes, as well as the presence of appendage-like structures characterized aquatic growth forms. On the other hand, aerial growth forms had smaller SAM, bulb-like epidermal cells, and longer and slightly less numerous leaf lobes. Significant differences between growth forms were noted for parameters such as volume of SAM, length of terminal, first, and middle lobes, as well as the length from first to last lobes. The volume of the SAM of aquatic shoot tips was always greater than aerial forms. On the other hand, lobes of aerial forms were always longer than the aquatic counterpart during early stages of development. This study on the development of M. aquaticum shows that the aerial and aquatic growth forms diverge from their early stages of development.


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 2005-2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hall ◽  
Lana Gay Phillips

Evidence is presented that population dynamics of Fusarium solani f.sp. phaseoli in soil depend on the effects of crop sequence and rainfall on parasitic activities of the pathogen. In a rotation trial started in 1978 and conducted over 14 years, population densities (colony-forming units/g) of the fungus in soil remained below 50 in treatments (fallow, repeated corn, repeated soybean) where the preferred host plant (common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris) was not grown. Where bean was grown every 3rd year or every year, population densities reached 475 and 660, respectively, by 1984. Thereafter, population densities of the fungus fluctuated widely from year to year in both rotation and repeated bean treatments. In the rotation treatment, peaks in population density of the pathogen coincided with the years of bean production. In repeated bean plots between 1985 and 1991, population density of the fungus in June was significantly correlated (r = 0.77, p = 0.04) with total rainfall received during the previous summer (June–August). It is postulated that higher rainfall during the growing season of the bean crop stimulated root growth and root infection, leading to the accumulation of higher levels of potential inoculum in infected tissue and the release of higher levels of inoculum into the soil by the following June. Key words: Fusarium solani f.sp. phaseoli, bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, rainfall, crop rotation.


1878 ◽  
Vol 169 ◽  
pp. 505-521 ◽  

The following paper contains an account of observations on the development of the species Cymothoa œstroides and C . parallela of Milne Edwards; but the forms of the young seem to show that several species are really included under these two names. In the early stages of development the only observable difference that exists between the embryos is one of size, but in the later stages they differ very markedly from each other in their external characters. From adult individuals answering the description of C . œstroides I have obtained four varieties of embryos: two with long antennae and two with short.* In the two former the first pair of antennae are but slightly longer than the head, while the second pair are longer than the body; the eyes are small. In one of the varieties thus characterised the abdominal appendages are fringed with long hairs (fig. 20), and in the other they are smooth.


1961 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. W. Bentley ◽  
L. E. Hammond ◽  
A. H. Bathard ◽  
J. H. Greaves

1. Field trials suggest that 3-monthly operations against rats in sewers using either 0·25% sodium fluoracetate or 2% fluoracetamide as a direct poison are more effective than 6-monthly treatments with 2·5% zinc phosphide or 10% arsenious oxide using the pre-baiting method.2. In six paired trials 2% fluoracetamide gave better results (an apparent 100% clearance in five instances) than 0·25% sodium fluoracetate.3. There is no evidence, at present, that direct poisoning treatments with 2% fluoracetamide or 0·25% sodium fluoracetate are improved by the addition of mould inhibiting substances to the bait.The work described above was made possible only by the co-operation of a large number of local authority councils and their staffs, to whom we are therefore much indebted. We wish to thank also, Mr J. D. Riley who gave considerable help during the early stages of the trials.


Parasitology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Spelling ◽  
J. O. Young

SUMMARYMonthly samples of the leeches Erpobdella octoculata, Glossiphonia complanata and Helobdella stagnalis were taken over a two-year period from an eutrophic, English lake to detect metacercariae of the trematode, Apatemon gracilis. In each cohort of each of the three leeches, prevalence was low in young individuals, rose to a peak in autumn/winter, and then declined until the cohort had almost died out; in E. octoculata and H. stagnalis a final brief increase occurred. Mean intensity and relative density values followed a similar seasonal pattern of change to that of prevalence in these last two species, but in G. complanata values fluctuated irregularly with no distinct pattern. The frequency distribution of the parasite in G. complanata was highly over-dispersed, but less so in the other two species. Infected E. octoculata reached sexual maturity. The parasite reduced egg production in G. complanata and H. stagnalis, but only by maximum values of 2·5 and 9% respectively. This reduction in fecundity is low compared to the subsequent high mortality, at 95% or more, of newly recruited young from as yet unidentified causes. Parasite-related host mortality was difficult to assess in young leeches, but there was some evidence for its occurrence in older leeches of E. octoculata and H. stagnalis. However, this is unlikely to play a prominent role in the control and regulation of lacustrine leech populations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 18039-18081 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. S. Meyer ◽  
M. Bergmann ◽  
T. Soltwedel

Abstract. Epibenthic megafauna play an important role in the deep-sea environment and contribute significantly to benthic biomass, but their population dynamics are still understudied. We used a towed deep-sea camera system to assess the population densities of epibenthic megafauna in 2002, 2007 and 2012 at the shallowest station (HG I, ~ 1300 m) of the deep-sea observatory HAUSGARTEN, in the eastern Fram Strait. Our results indicate that the overall density of megafauna was significantly lower in 2007 than in 2002, but was significantly higher in 2012, resulting in overall greater megafaunal density in 2012. Different species showed different patterns in population density, but the relative proportions of predator/scavengers and suspension-feeding individuals were both higher in 2012. Variations in megafaunal densities and proportions are likely due to variation in food input to the sea floor, which decreased slightly in the years preceding 2007 and was greatly elevated in the years preceding 2012. Both average evenness and diversity increased over the time period studied, which indicates that HG I may be food-limited and subject to bottom-up control. The varying dynamics of different species may have been caused by differential capacities of populations to respond to increased food input through either recruitment or migration.


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