CSIRO Mouse Monitoring
Monitoring Mice in Australia
Project Funder: CSIRO
Project Lead Organisation/Researcher: CSIRO, Dr. Peter R. Brown
Project Duration: January 2025 – June 2029
Project Locations: Kiacatoo, Fifield, Tullamore, Condobolin ARAS, Ungarie, Weethalle, North Condobolin, Tottenham
Aim
The projects aims to undertake mouse monitoring in Central west region (NSW). It aims to conduct “rapid assessment” mouse monitoring on at least 7 sites (through mouse chew cards or active burrow counts).
Description and background
Due to the increasing prevalence of mice in many key grain-growing regions, GRDC has partnered with CSIRO to enhance understanding of mouse management.
Active mouse burrows and mouse chew cards are quantitative rapid assessment techniques used to provide data on mouse activity within a site. Monitoring is done in March, June and September each year at the same locations within a region. Ten sites are established in each region, with sites located approximately 10 km apart to ensure a range of different farming systems and environmental conditions are incorporated. Once the 10 sites are established, they are re-visited each sampling session. The monitoring provides data on the size (abundance) of mouse populations, breeding status and overall activity. This information is used in models that have been developed over the last 20-30 years to predict mouse outbreaks.
Partnership
This project is a partnership between CSIRO and Central West Farming Systems.
This project is funded by the GRDC (until Dec 2021) to monitor mouse populations and forecast the likelihood of mouse outbreaks (the project was extended for an additional 3 years; to Dec 2024).
