植物被食草动物喂养是一个巨大的经济和环境问题。 大多数处理这种情况的方法都是不道德的、昂贵的或有限的。 博士生pattfinnerty开发了一种新的方法，它依赖于动物的偏好。在ku ring gai chase np-up的实验装置中，小袋鼠独自嗅闻令人不快的硼和叶子，喜欢桉树幼苗。 图片：悉尼大学的研究人员已经证明，通过用植物通常避免的各种气味来欺骗它们，可以保护植物免受草食性哺乳动物饥饿的胃的伤害。 《自然生态学与进化论》的研究结果表明，在模仿避开的植物气味的溶液旁边种植的树苗被动物吃掉的可能性要低20倍。 该研究的主要作者、生命与环境科学学院行为生态学与保护实验室的博士生patrick finnerty说：“这相当于幼苗周围都是草食动物不喜欢的真实植物；欺骗动物，让它们花更长的时间来寻找和进食。”。 他说：“食草动物对世界各地生态和经济敏感地区的珍贵植物造成了重大破坏，但为了保护植物而杀死动物可能是不道德的。”。 该领域的主要作者patt finnerty。 “因此，我们创造了人造气味，模仿它们自然避免的植物物种的气味，这轻轻地将有问题的食草动物从我们不希望它们成为的地区推开。 “鉴于许多食草动物将植物气味作为它们觅食的主要感觉，这种方法提供了一种新的方法，可以用来帮助保护全球有价值的植物，无论是在保护工作中还是在保护农作物中。 这项实验在悉尼的库林盖追逐国家公园进行，以沼泽小袋鼠为食草动物模型。 研究人员在柑橘科中选择了一种令人不快的灌木，即羽状硼菊，以及一种可口的树冠物种，即点桉，来测试这一概念。 该研究比较了使用b。 模拟羽状气味的植物和真正的植物，发现它们在保护桉树幼苗不被小袋鼠吃掉方面同样成功。 作为博士研究的一部分，芬纳蒂还成功地在非洲大象身上测试了这种方法，但实地调查并不构成本文的一部分。 芬纳蒂先生说，以前试图使用辣椒油或机油等驱蚊物质来控制动物对植物的消费，有其固有的局限性。 他说：“动物往往习惯于这些不自然的暗示，因此威慑作用只是暂时的。”。 “相比之下，通过模仿食草动物在日常觅食中自然遇到并避免的植物气味，我们的方法与这些动物的自然动力相结合，食草动物不太可能适应这些气味。 研究人员帕蒂·芬纳蒂在南非野外与大象合影。 研究人员接受了这个想法，并使用了产生这些不想要的香气的解决方案。 芬纳蒂说：“作为一种保护适口植物的管理工具，我们的技术比使用真正的植物有很多优势，可以促使食草动物远离我们试图保护的植物。”。 “真正的植物争夺水和资源，这在提供浏览避难所方面可能超过保护作用。 “我们的方法应该适用于任何主要依靠植物气味信息觅食的哺乳动物，或潜在的无脊椎动物，草食动物，并可以保护全球有价值的植物，如受威胁的物种。 “目前解决食草动物相关问题的方法通常涉及成本高昂且对环境有影响的措施，如致命控制或围栏。 这项新研究在了解食草动物觅食线索、动机和决策的基础上，引入了一种低成本、人性化的替代策略。 该研究的资深作者clare mcarthur教授说：“鹿、大象和小袋鼠等哺乳动物对植物浏览造成的损害越来越引起全球的关注。”。 “这种破坏可能是火灾后恢复和植被重建领域的最大限制因素之一。 它还威胁到许多濒危植物物种，并对全球林业和农业造成数十亿美元的损失。 “目前保护植物的方法成本高昂，而且越来越受到动物福利问题的限制，因此需要替代方法。 在南非的实地调查capattfinnerty现在正致力于用非洲大象来检验这一假设。 finnerty等人（自然生态学与进化）的研究“工厂的错误信息为美味的植物提供了躲避哺乳动物浏览的避难所”。 doi:10。 1038/s41559-024-02330-x声明作者声明没有相互竞争的利益。 这项研究由澳大利亚生态学会、澳大利亚科学院、澳大利亚皇家动物学会、澳大利亚野生动物学会、新南威尔士州规划与环境部和澳大利亚研究委员会资助。loss of plants to herbivore feeding is a big economic and environmental problem. most methods to deal with this are unethical, expensive or limited. phd student patt finnerty has developed a new method that relies on animal preferencesswamp wallaby in the experimental set at ku-ring-gai chase np up sniffs unpalatable boronia and leaves preferred eucalyptus seedling alone. photo: patt finnertyuniversity of sydney researchers have shown it is possible to shield plants from the hungry maws of herbivorous mammals by fooling them with the smell of a variety they typically avoid.findings from the study in nature ecology & evolution show tree seedlings planted next to a solution mimicking the smell of avoided plants were 20 times less likely to be eaten by animals.“this is equivalent to the seedlings being surrounded by actual plants that are unpalatable to the herbivore; tricking the animals so they take much longer to find and feed on them,” said phd student patrick finnerty, the study’s lead author from the school of life and environmental sciences behavioural ecology and conservation lab. “herbivores cause significant damage to valuable plants in ecological and economically sensitive areas worldwide, but killing the animals to protect the plants can be unethical,” he said.lead author patt finnerty in the field.“so, we created artificial odours that mimicked the smell of plant species they naturally avoid, and this gently nudged problematic herbivores away from areas we didn’t want them to be.“given that many herbivores use plant odour as their primary sense to forage, this method provides a new approach that could be used to help protect valued plants globally, either in conservation work or protecting agricultural crops.”the experiment, conducted in ku-ring-gai chase national park in sydney, used the swamp wallaby as model herbivore. the researchers selected an unpalatable shrub in the citrus family, boronia pinnata, and a palatable canopy species, eucalyptus punctata, to test the concept.the study compared using the b. pinnata odour mimic and the real plant and found both were equally successful at protecting eucalypt seedlings from being eaten by wallabies.as part of his doctoral research, mr finnerty has also tested the method successfully with african elephants, but that fieldwork does not form part of this research paper.previous attempts to use repellent substances, such as chilli oil or motor oil, to control animal consumption of plants have inherent limitations, mr finnerty said.“animals tend to habituate to these unnatural cues and so deterrent effects are only temporary,” he said.“by contrast, by mimicking the smell of plants herbivore naturally encounter, and avoid in day-to-day foraging, our approach works with the natural motivators of these animals, with herbivores less likely to habituate to these smells.”researcher patt finnerty with elephants in the field in south africa.researchers took this idea and used solutions that produce these undesired aromas.“as a management tool to protect palatable plants, our technique offers many advantages over using real plants as a way to nudge herbivores away from plants we are trying to protect,” mr finnerty said. “real plants compete for water and resources, which can outweigh protective effects in providing browsing refuge.“our approach should be transferable to any mammalian, or potentially invertebrate, herbivore that relies primarily on plant odour information to forage and could protect valued plants globally, such as threatened species.”current solutions to herbivore-related problems often involve costly and environmentally impactful measures such as lethal control or fencing.the new research introduces an alternative low-cost, humane strategy based on understanding herbivores’ foraging cues, motivations and decisions.“plant browsing damage caused by mammalian herbivore populations like deer, elephants and wallabies is a growing global concern,” said senior study author professor clare mcarthur.“this damage can be one of the greatest limiting factors in areas of post-fire recovery and revegetation. it also threatens many endangered plant species and causes billions of dollars of damage in forestry and agriculture globally.“current methods to protect plants are expensive and increasingly limited by concerns over animal welfare, so alternate approaches are needed.”fieldwork in south africapatt finnerty is now working to test the hypothesis with african elephants.research‘olfactory misinformation provides refuge to palatable plants from mammalian browsing’, finnerty, et al (nature ecology & evolution). doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02330-xdeclarationthe authors declare no competing interests. the research was funded by the ecological society of australia, australian academy of science, royal zoological society of australia, australian wildlife society, nsw department of planning and environment, and the australian research council.本文来源： 被“假新闻”欺骗：动物被鼻子牵着鼻子离开植物
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