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The role of small mammals in grassland in China
by Professor Shi Dazhao, China Agricultural University

There are more than 80 kinds of small mammals in grassland of China, including vole, gerbil, jerboa, mole, hamster, pika, hare and so on. The most important small mammals are the two following types: one is social rodents such as Brandt’s vole(Lasiopodomys brandtii), Mongolian gerbil(Meriones unguiculatus), Black-lipped pika(Ochotona　curzoniae), the other is underground rodent like Chinese mole (Myospalax baileyi) and mole vole (Ellobius talpinus), etc. The social rodents are most important injury to grassland vegetation environment in all small mammals.

 Rodents make many troubles, for example, reducing grass yield, reducing stocking   capacity, making soil desertification, change vegetation type, disseminating disease. So we must control them in suitable way. Set up early-warning system is a way to reduce injury effectively.

  We can set up an early-warning model based on the long-term rodent population fluctuating of and the relationships between rodents and the environment. The relationship is not simple linear but they were affected by integrated multifactor and the rodent population self-regulation mechanism. However, some conclusions can be got from the complicated relationships. We even can simulate the population dynamics using math models, some study jointly have be done about the development of Brandt’s voles population models of predictions for outbreaks of Brandt’s voles by Australian Dr. Roger, Stephen and our team.

We have packed up a long-term data set (1983-2002) including Brandt’s voles population dynamics, annual air temperatures, rainfalls, vegetation types, vegetation succession and the stocking capacity on the grassland. We expected to cooperate with Australian scientists to setting a model.