Human beings invented agriculture about 10,000 years ago. This provided a bigger, more dependable food supply. It also allowed people to settle down in villages and cities for the first time. Birth rates went up because there was more food and settled life had other advantages. Death rates also rose because of crowded living conditions and diseases that spread from domestic animals. Because the higher birth rates were matched by higher death rates, the human population continued to grow very slowly.
As people moved into the area and developed it. The rodents in the area found that human agriculture and waste from urban areas greatly increased the amount of food available to them. On the other hand humans brought a new predator with them in the form of house cats who quickly added the rodents to their menu.
With more food will birth rates increase or decrease among rodents??