Data from: Energy efficient homes for rodent control across cityscapes

Cities spend millions of dollars on rodent mitigation to reduce public health risks. Despite these efforts, infestations often remain high. Rodents thrive in the built environment in part due to reduced natural predators and the exploitation of garbage. Though sanitation and greenspace are important factors in rodent mitigation, more complex governance and action are needed. Urban rodents are dynamic and commensal in nature, so understanding the influence of prolific urban features, like building attributes, warrants scrutiny and additionally intersects mitigation strategies with stakeholders at a localized level. Here, we model how residential structures' efficiency influences urban rodent populations. To do so, we created an agent-based model using characteristics of urban brown rats and their natural predator, red foxes, based on three distinct neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We varied whether retrofitting occurred and its duration as well as the percent of initial energy-efficient homes in each neighborhood. We found that initial housing conditions, retrofitting, and the duration of retrofitting all significantly reduced final rodent populations. However, retrofitting was most effective in reducing rodent populations in neighborhoods with extensive park access and low commercial activity. Additionally, across neighborhoods, single large efficiency initiatives showed greater potential for rodent reduction. Lastly, we show that the costs of large-scale retrofitting schemes are comparable to ten-year public health spending, demonstrating that retrofitting may have the potential to offset near-term costs. Our results showcase how system-view investments in integrated pest management can lead to sustained rodent pest mitigation and advance sustainable development goals, infrastructure innovation (Goal #9), reduced inequalities (Goal #10), and sustainable cities and communities (Goal #11).各城市均斥资数百万美元开展啮齿动物防控（rodent mitigation），以降低公共健康风险。尽管投入了此类防控举措，啮齿类侵扰问题仍屡禁不止。啮齿动物之所以能在建成环境（built environment）中大量繁衍，部分原因在于其天敌数量减少，且它们会利用生活垃圾作为生存资源。尽管环境卫生与绿地建设是啮齿动物防控的重要抓手，但更需依托复杂的治理体系与协同行动。 城市啮齿动物具有动态性与伴人居性（commensal），因此厘清建筑属性等典型城市特征的影响亟需审慎研究，同时还需将防控策略与地方层面的利益相关方进行深度协同。本研究针对城市褐家鼠及其天敌赤狐的特性，结合宾夕法尼亚州费城三个不同社区的实际情况，构建了基于智能体的模型（Agent-Based Model），以模拟住宅建筑能效对城市啮齿动物种群的影响机制。 研究中设置了节能改造的实施与否、改造持续时长，以及各社区初始节能住宅占比等变量。结果显示，初始住宅条件、节能改造及改造时长均能显著降低最终的啮齿动物种群规模。不过，节能改造在拥有大量公园绿地且商业活动较少的社区中，对啮齿动物种群的抑制效果最为显著。此外，在所有社区中，单次大规模能效提升举措的啮齿类防控潜力更为突出。 研究同时表明，大规模节能改造方案的成本与十年期公共健康支出相当，这意味着节能改造或可抵消短期防控成本。本研究结果证实，针对综合虫害管理的系统性投入，可实现啮齿类虫害的长效防控，并助力推进可持续发展目标：基础设施创新（目标9）、减少不平等（目标10）以及可持续城市与社区（目标11）。