O'Rourke, J. "Farmers' bane returns". The Sydney Morning Herald- Environment. October 2011. p. NA
I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this
work and am unaware of anyone who has not- Austyn Laird
Monday, February 8, 2016
Mice Outbreak in Austrailia and Solutions
Recently in Australia a mice outbreak has disrupted crop production and infested farmlands. Southern Australia, as shown in the figure below, is the most affected region from the outbreak. With costs reaching substantial balances of upwards to three hundred million dollars in losses of agricultural production, researchers were able to compare the map of both the region of the outbreak of mice to a map showing the most prominent crop grown in that region to conclude which type of crop the mice are most attracted to. In the Southeastern region of Australia, grain crops were found to be the most abundantly grown therefore reaching conclusions that the mice are most attracted to the grain. As well as the specific type of crop attracting these mice, researchers have also analyzed climate maps of the Southeastern region to find that as the climate grows hotter and hotter, the mice population grows more. At the same time of the most severe outbreak, climate maps proved that higher temperature and record-low rainfall years prompted the outbreak for mice cannot survive as well in cold, damp climates. Through this evidence, researchers can promote artificial climates for these fields of infested crops.
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It's interesting to see that correlation between precipitation and mouse abundance. Although there is certainly more mice in lower precipitation regions I'm surprised there's not more mice in the darkest red region (lowest rainfall on record) east of Australia. I wonder what the correlation with topographic features would be.
ReplyDeleteThis is a neat approach to tackling the issue of invasive species and provides easy to understand data about the characteristics of areas in which these species' populations flourish.
ReplyDeleteInteresting solution! In response, how practical would it be to create an artificial climate for the crops? On a large scale, it might be hard or costly to find the right balance between protecting crops and saving money. And how would the artificial changes have an impact on the crops themselves?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how the mice are more abundant in south Australia. An interesting element would be to see the population and poverty rates with the data from this map.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see how the mice are more abundant in south Australia. An interesting element would be to see the population and poverty rates with the data from this map.
ReplyDeletethrough this article it seems evident that economic importance does play a role in the infestation of these mice. Those living in areas of higher economic standards of living seemingly have less mice than those of lower economic standards of living.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to ignore the mouse problem because of their destruction of crop production, but I wonder what other areas have this big of an outbreak of mice. It might be harder to realize other areas have the same problem if there is no apparent harm
ReplyDelete