SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Sep 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –
An investigation published in the journal ‘Journal of Natural History’ has determined that the black rat that lives in the Los Tilos Forest, the core area of the La Palma World Biosphere Reserve, feeds on 43 species of plants compromising, to some extent, their survival and reproduction.
This study has been carried out by researchers from the Royal Botanical Garden (RJB) of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), in collaboration with the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA-CSIC) and the Cabildo de La Palma, and was has focused on the impact that the black rat produces in the Los Tilos Forest.
The black rat (Rattus rattus), also known as the boat rat or common rat, is a rodent species native to tropical Asia but which colonized Europe in the 8th century and from there spread to practically the rest of the world, adapting to any type of habitat, although it predominates in hot climates.
It is estimated that it arrived in the Canary Islands in the 15th century on ships from various parts of the European continent. At present and due to its colonizing potential and the serious threat it poses to native species, habitats or ecosystems, this species has been included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Exotic Species, regulated by Royal Decree 630/2013. In Spain its introduction into the natural environment, possession, transport, traffic and trade is prohibited.
The research, the first to combine morphological and genetic analyzes carried out, has shown that the black rat, when eating blackberries (Rubus palmensis and Rubus bollei), native to La Palma, does not damage its seeds during consumption, contrary to what it does with other foods that it ends up crushing, so it would be interesting to propose new studies to check if it collaborates in the dispersal of these two plant species of the Canary Island laurel.
Likewise, the study has revealed two more facts. “On the one hand, within the rat’s diet a greater amount of toxic plants was found compared to other types of vegetables, which leads us to think about a possible addiction to certain psychoactive compounds and, on the other hand, in none of the In the excrement analyzed, remains of Canary birds were found despite the fact that the black rat is a threat to this group of vertebrates, “says Fernando Pomeda-Gutiérrez, from the RJB-CSIC.
NEED FOR GENETIC ANALYSIS
To carry out the study, the researchers have morphologically analyzed 500 excrements of this species and added another hundred genetic analyzes (barcoding) that, according to the researcher from the Royal Botanical Garden, “were necessary to determine with greater clarity the diet of this invasive exotic species that, generally, like other rodents, excessively crushes the food, leaving most of the remains completely destroyed, which makes its study difficult “.
Fernando Pomeda-Gutiérrez’s study is part of the TFM’s of the Master’s Degree in Biodiversity in Tropical Areas and its Conservation and has been directed by the CSIC research professor at the Royal Botanical Garden Pablo Vargas, the scientific researcher Manuel Nogales from the IPNA-CSIC and Félix Manuel Medina, biologist from the Island Council of La Palma.
