Challenges and opportunities in the translocation of grassland-dwelling subterranean mammals: The case of blind mole rats

IF 3.4 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Global Ecology and Conservation Pub Date : 2025-07-20 DOI:10.1016/j.gecco.2025.e03756

Orsolya Moldován , Viktor Schneider , Szabolcs Lengyel , Dávid Czabán , Gábor Csorba , Attila Németh

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Abstract

Grasslands have been transformed into anthropogenic habitats worldwide and consequently have lost many species, including their ecosystem engineer species. European blind mole rats (Rodentia: Spalacidae) are an important biological component of grassland ecosystems, as their digging creates mounds of bare soil surfaces available for plant colonisation, they maintain soil structure, and provide a subterranean niche for other animals. Blind mole rats have long been persecuted, and many species are threatened by extinction as they only exist in a few small and isolated populations.

The translocation of individuals for reintroduction or establishment of new populations is a promising tool for the conservation of rare and endangered species. As data regarding the translocation of blind mole rats or other strictly subterranean mammals has not yet been published, here we discuss the proposed methods and evaluate the results of seven translocation projects in Hungary between 2013 and 2024. We found that these projects varied greatly in their efficacy, and that habitat quality, the number and sex ratio of translocated animals, as well as survival during the first winter, were the decisive factors for success and failure. Translocations require the strict application of a detailed protocol, which covers the thorough assessment of the soil and vegetation quality of the target habitats, careful selection of source populations and individuals, timing of the capture and release, and the regular monitoring of translocation success. We developed recommendations for future translocation projects of subterranean mammals, a guild which is present in all open grassland ecosystems and is often threatened globally.

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草原地下哺乳动物易位的挑战与机遇：以盲鼹鼠为例

在世界范围内，草原已经变成了人类活动的栖息地，导致许多物种的灭绝，包括它们的生态系统工程物种。欧洲盲鼹鼠（啮齿目：裂齿目）是草原生态系统的重要生物组成部分，因为它们的挖掘创造了可供植物定居的裸露土壤表面，它们维持土壤结构，并为其他动物提供了地下生态位。盲鼹鼠长期以来一直受到迫害，许多物种都面临灭绝的威胁，因为它们只存在于少数小而孤立的种群中。为了重新引入或建立新的种群而进行个体迁移是保护稀有和濒危物种的一种很有前途的手段。由于盲鼹鼠或其他严格的地下哺乳动物的易位数据尚未发表，在这里，我们讨论了提出的方法，并评估了2013年至2024年间匈牙利七个易位项目的结果。我们发现这些项目的效果差异很大，栖息地质量、迁移动物的数量和性别比例以及第一个冬天的存活率是决定成功和失败的决定性因素。迁移需要严格执行详细的规程，其中包括彻底评估目标栖息地的土壤和植被质量，仔细选择源种群和个体，捕获和释放的时间，以及对迁移成功的定期监测。我们为地下哺乳动物的未来迁移项目提出了建议，这是一个存在于所有开放草原生态系统中并且经常受到全球威胁的群体。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Global Ecology and Conservation Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

5.00%

发文量

346

审稿时长

83 days

期刊介绍： Global Ecology and Conservation is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering all sub-disciplines of ecological and conservation science: from theory to practice, from molecules to ecosystems, from regional to global. The fields covered include: organismal, population, community, and ecosystem ecology; physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology; and conservation science.