It was horrible! Pikas that look so much like rats have such a big hazard

Although the pika belongs to the rabbit order, it belongs to the family Pika, unlike the common rabbit family. There are also congregations in the Daisetsuzan Mountains of Hokkaido, Japan, and are more distributed in Inner Mongolia, Gansu and other places in China. It is characterized by its small size, short ears, dark eyes, and tan-brown body hair. There are many different breeds of pikas, such as the Tibetan pika (Ochtona Thibetana), the Northeast pika (Ochotona Hyperborea), the Dahur pika (Ochotona Daurica), the plateau pika (Ochotona Alpina Pallas), the big-eared pika (Ochtona Macrotis Gunther) and so on.

Eliminating pikas to protect the environment may be counterproductive

pika

The plateau pika has long been considered a pest. They multiply in overgrazed meadows and dig holes in the ground. The soils of these overgrazed areas do not absorb rainwater well and pose a threat to downstream cities and farmland when monsoon rains (monsoons are longer-term, widespread precipitation that occurs with the onset of summer winds) arrive.

In order to solve this problem, the Chinese government has launched a campaign to eliminate the plateau pika since the 1960s. But according to a recent study to be published in AMBIO (A Journal of the Human Environment), the movement could backfire. The researchers measured and analyzed the rate of soil water absorption in the grassland where the pika population is active and the grassland where the pika has disappeared for more than 2 years.

The results found that even after excluding the effects of weather conditions, the soil rain infiltration rate near the pika's burrowing point was greater, at least 2 to 3 times higher than in the grassland where no pika lived. The researchers note that this suggests that the presence of pika reduces the chance of surface runoff and flooding. Studies illustrate the important role of burrowing mammals in ecosystems, particularly on local hydrology. This evidence of the positive environmental impact of plateau pika burrowing may help protect this key species.

Pikas are the result of grassland degradation, preferring degraded grassland and therefore preferring to live there rather than causing it to degenerate.

The overbreeding of pika rabbits is also the result of the reduction of natural predators after the destruction of the ecological chain, and only by restoring the original plateau food chain can the pika disaster be controlled. Purely relying on artificial large-scale spraying to kill pikas, not only pikas, but also other animals on the same grassland.

Even more powerful than the pika is man

The expedition team members showed through sample surveys that there is no simple proportional correspondence between the number of rat holes and the destruction area of pikas and the degradation of grassland. In some places, the degradation of grasslands is very severe, but the rodent infestation is not serious. Experts believe that people's excessive grazing has led to excessive burdens on grasslands and serious desertification of the land.

In the course of the scientific expedition, the team members found that in all the places where the water and grass were abundant in the early 80s, only the sparse grass was creeping on the ground, and only in the inaccessible places could they see the scene of green grass and wildflowers, and this phenomenon is still continuing. Herders are constantly moving elsewhere in search of places where they can herd cattle and sheep. "Now the pasture is getting harder and harder to find." A herdsman said as he drove a carriage, which set off yellow dust.

This article is edited by headline encyclopedia user users 8348677697475, Mountains and Rivers Can't Get Tired, Wanding Star Garden, Popular Science China, and Idol 8227.