FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Agricultural Sciences (AGR): AGR-8

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Enhancement of Barn owl populations in the Everglades Agricultural Area of South Florida for sustainable rodent control.  J. MARTIN and R. RAID.  Univ. of Florida, Everglades Research and Education Center, Belle Glade, FL 33430.  Small rodents, primarily in the form of rats and mice, cause an estimated $30 million in damage annually to sugarcane and vegetable crops in south Florida.  Traditionally, growers relied on chemical rodenticides in an attempt to manage rodent populations. However, rodenticides are costly, short-lived, and may be of concern environmentally.  The common barn owl, Tyto alba, is endemic to Florida but populations remain far below optimum due to a perceived shortage of natural nesting sites.  With a single pair of nesting barn owls capable of eliminating in excess of 1,000 rodents per year, sugarcane and vegetable growers are interested in enhancing their populations to serve as a means of biological rodent control.  Research has demonstrated that barn owls take readily to man-made nesting boxes placed along ditch banks and canals throughout the Everglades Agricultural Area.   Prey diversity, box colonization, clutch sizes, and fledging success rates are being monitored to measure the success of the program.