Regino, Cavia, Gerardo Rubén Cueto, Olga Virginia Suárez, Changes in rodent communities according to the landscape structure in an urban ecosystem, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 90, Issues 1-2, 15 March 2009, 11-19 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204608001692
This paper describes research done on rats in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Throughout the city, and across various landscapes and land-cover types, rodent communities composition and diversity were analyzed. Four landscapes – a natural reserve, a parkland, a shantytown, and an industrial-residential neighborhood – were studied, and certain rat species were found in each one. Native species were found only in vegetated environments, which would be natural reserves and some parklands. Meanwhile, introduced species were found in dwellings, shops, and factories, which would mostly be shantytowns and industrial-residential neighborhoods. Overall, introduced species of rats were more common in the most urbanized areas of the city.
This research is significant to public health/rat control in NYC because rats are extremely common here and are known to transmit diseases. There are a great deal of different environments within the five boroughs, so this research can give insight as to where to find certain rats (especially the introduced species) known to carry certain viruses, and then we can implement rat control. On another note, this research shows that native rats are found in the least urban areas, which is good to know for conservation purposes if the intent is to restore native species.
