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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 1200-1211.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2021.471

• Biology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal distribution of rat population density in grassland on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains based on Cubist model

PAN Qun1,2(),SHI Haiyang2,3,ZHANG Wenqiang2,3,LUO Geping2,3,4(),CHEN Chunbo2,3   

  1. 1. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    4. Central Asia Center for Ecology and Environmental Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2021-10-12 Revised:2022-01-12 Online:2022-07-25 Published:2022-08-11
  • Contact: Geping LUO E-mail:pq664x@outlook.com;luogp@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

Rodent damage is an important factor affecting grassland ecological health. Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of small rodent population density is crucial for accurate comprehensive rodent control. Previous studies on the spatiotemporal distribution of small rodents were mostly limited to static site distribution or time change analysis of small-scale population density; investigation on the population density change of small rodents on a large temporal and spatial scale is lacking. In this study, the field survey information of small-scale active burrow entrance densities on the grassland on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains from 1982 to 2015 was collected from the literature and combined with environmental variable data. The study area was divided as areas with elevation of ≤900 m and >900 m. The spatiotemporal distribution of active burrow entrance densities was analyzed using the Cubist and random forest (RF) models. The following results were obtained. (1) From 1982 to 2015, the active burrow entrance densities increased in the area with an elevation of ≤900 m on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains, whereas that in the area with an elevation of >900 m decreased. The fitting accuracy of the Cubist model of active burrow entrance densities and environmental factors was better than that of the RF model. (2) Vegetation status, meteorological factors, and grazing intensity were found to be the primary environmental driving factors for the spatiotemporal distribution of active burrow entrance densities on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains. Significant differences in the driving mechanism of active burrow entrance densities were found between the areas with an elevation of ≤900 m and those with an elevation of >900 m on the north slope of Tianshan Mountains. (3) The main factor affecting the spatiotemporal distribution of active burrow entrance densities was the leaf area index and normalized difference vegetation index for the areas with elevation ≤900 m and >900 m, respectively. This difference may be affected by the consumption of different types of vegetation by gerbils (Rhombomys opimus) and yellow rabbit tail rats (Eolagurus luteus).

Key words: active burrow entrance densities, environmental factors, Cubist model, random forest model, northern slope of Tianshan Mountains