Use of space and habitats by meadow voles at the home range,patch and landscape scales

Using capture/recapture methods, we examined the spatial usage patterns of Microtus pennsylvanicus within and between experimentally created habitat patches of three sizes (1.0, 0.25 and 0.0625 ha) and between a 20-ha fragmented and a 20-ha continuous habitat landscape. We tested the prediction that home ranges near patch edges would be qualitatively different from those in patch interiors, and that the edge:interior habitat ratio could be used to make predictions concerning the dispersion and spatial use of individuals occupying different sized patches and between landscapes with different habitat structure. We found adult females on patch edges to have larger and more exclusive home ranges, larger body sizes, longer residence times, and to reproduce at a higher frequency than those in patch interiors. These edge effects also appeared to be largely responsible for the greater proportion of larger, reproductive females we found in small than larger patches and in the fragmented than in the continuous habitat (control) landscape. The selection of higher quality edge habitats by dominant females and the relegation of sub-dominants to patch interiors provides an explanation for the observed differences in the distribution and performance of females over patches and between landscapes.     

布氏田鼠适应性产热过程中血清甲状腺激素的变化

早春季节对布氏田鼠（Microtusbrandti）施以不同光照和温度处理,其血清甲状腺素（T4）含量没有明显变化;低温明显地升高了三碘甲腺原氨酸（T3）的含量和T3／T4的比率。短光照只在低温环境中能升高T3／T4的比率。秋节温暖环境中的短光照或褪黑激素（Melatonin,MLT）处理,都能升高血清T3的浓度和增加T3／T4的比率。表明甲状腺激素在布氏田鼠短光照和低温的适应性产热中起着重要的调控作用,褪黑激素诱导布氏田鼠产热与甲状腺激素有密切的联系。     

A comparison of hemoglobins in five species of Microtus

The composition of tryptic peptides was determined for Hb (major or fast electrophoretic component) from four additional species of Microtus; M. p. pennsylvanicus, M. abbreviatus, M. miurus, and M. oeconomus, The amino acids from the four Hb were compared with Hb from M. p. tananaensis, and, on the basis of the combination of analyses for the several Hb. Ca 95% of the overall amino acid composition was considered. The compositions of most of the homologous peptides were identical, and two deletions in the sequence of 21 amino acids β 41–61 are believed to characterize the Hb of all four species. From differences in peptide composition the following substitutions were inferred. In the β chain, M. pennsylvanicus (2 ssp) differed from other species at two positions, 8: Ser vs Thr and 12: Thr vs Ash. In the β chain M. pennsylvanicus (2 ssp) differed from other species at two positions, β45: Phe vs Leu, and β50: Ser-Glx vs Thr. M. p. pennsylvanicus differed from M. p. tananaensis at position β88: Val-Leu vs Leu. All species showed ambiguity among the amino acids Ala-Ser-Phe-Leu centred presumably in positions β129 and β130. On the basis of an incomplete examination, the slow electrophoretic component of M. abbreviatus Hb could not be seen to differ from the fast component in its peptide map or in the general composition of its and β peptides.     

avpr1a length polymorphism is not associated with either social or genetic monogamy in free-living prairie voles

Recent discoveries of single-gene influences on social behaviour have generated a great deal of interest in the proximate mechanisms underlying the expression of complex behaviours. Length polymorphism in a microsatellite in the regulatory region of the gene encoding the vasopressin 1a receptor (avpr1a) has been associated with both inter- and intra-specific variation in socially monogamous behaviour in voles (genus Microtus) under laboratory conditions. Here, we evaluate the relationship between avpr1a length polymorphism and social associations, genetic monogamy, and reproductive success in free-living prairie vole (M. ochrogaster) populations. We found no evidence of a relationship between avpr1a microsatellite length and any of our correlates of either social or genetic monogamy in the field. Our results, especially when taken in conjunction with those of recent experimental studies in semi-natural enclosures, suggest that avpr1a polymorphism is unlikely to have been a major influence in the evolution or maintenance of social monogamy in prairie voles under natural conditions.     

A demographic analysis of vole population responses to fragmentation and destruction of habitat

 Fragmentation and destruction of natural habitats is currently considered to be the major threat to wildlife populations. We here perform a comprehensive analysis of the demographic effects of habitat fragmentation and destruction on 14 populations of the root vole. The experiment was divided into two consecutive periods. During the first period, we contrasted populations with the same initial size and structure in continuous and fragmented habitat. During the second period, we fragmented the continuous habitat into the same configuration as the permanently fragmented habitat so that the effect of habitat destruction could be evaluated. We estimated survival and fecundity parameters and combined them into population projection matrices to evaluate their relative impact on population growth. In the first period of the experiment there was no difference in population growth rate between fragmented and continuous populations, although litter size was significantly higher in the continuous populations. In the second period, we found higher population growth rates in populations that had experienced habitat destruction. By applying the transition matrix model to empirical estimates of demographic parameters, we demonstrate that the difference in population growth rate in the second period of the experiment was the result of a nonsignificant difference in adult survival. Movements out of the habitat patches were significantly lower in populations that had experienced habitat destruction. We conclude that predator-caused mortality of animals moving out of the habitat patches was the main determinant of demographic variation in this system. Received: January 31, 2002 / Accepted: March 25, 2003     

Population dynamics of Microtus arvalis in a weed strip

A population of Microtus arvalis Pallas, 1779, living in a weed strip was studied by capture–recapture method over a 2-year period. Weed strips are characterized by their linear shape and high vegetation cover, and are not comparable to the habitats examined in most previous studies on M. arvalis.Abundance of voles was found to be high in the strip with a maximum of 410 voles/ha known to be alive in the first year and 641 voles/ha in the successive year. Abundance was minimal in spring and increased until July. A decrease in population size at the beginning of August was followed by a new increase in both years. One difference between the 2 years was a pronounced peak abundance at the end of June in the second year. The peak may be related to a shift in sex ratio in favour of females in this year (ratio of males:females of 1:8). Also the time of residency of females was significantly longer in the second year than in the year before, and the survival rate of females was greater than in males.The turnover was generally very high and reached maximum values of 80% renewal of population every 2 weeks.     

An extension of the Cormack-Jolly-Seber model for continuous covariates with application to Microtus pennsylvanicus

Recent developments in the Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model for analyzing capture-recapture data have focused on allowing the capture and survival rates to vary between individuals. Several methods have been developed in which capture and survival are functions of auxiliary variables that may be discrete, constant over time, or apply to the population as a whole, but the problem has not been solved for continuous covariates that vary with both time and individual. This article proposes a new method to handle such covariates by modeling changes over time via a diffusion process and using logistic functions to link the variable to the CJS capture and survival rates. Bayesian methods are used to estimate the model parameters. The method is applied to study the effect of body mass on the survival of the North American meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus.     

Vole population cycles in northern and southern Europe: is there a need for different explanations for single pattern?

1. Students of population cycles in small rodents in Fennoscandia have accumulated support for the predation hypothesis, which states that the gradient in cycle length and amplitude running from southern to northern Fennoscandia reflects the relative influence of specialist and generalist predators on vole dynamics, itself modulated by the presence of snow cover. The hypothesized role of snow cover is to isolate linked specialist predators, primarily the least weasel, Mustela n. nivalis L. and their prey, primarily field voles Microtus agrestis L., from the stabilizing influence of generalist predators. 2. The predation hypothesis does not readily account for the high amplitude and regular 3-year cycles of common voles documented in agricultural areas of western, central and eastern Europe. Such cycles are rarely mentioned in the literature pertaining to Fennoscandian cycles. 3. We consider new data on population cycles and demographic patterns of common voles Microtus arvalis Pallas in south-west France. We show that the patterns are wholly consistent with five of six patterns that characterize rodent cycles in Fennoscandia and that are satisfactorily explained by the predation hypothesis. They include the: (a) existence of cycle; (b) the occurrence of long-term changes in relative abundance and type of dynamics; (c) geographical synchrony over large areas; (d) interspecific synchrony; and (e) voles are large in the increase and peak phase and small in decline and low phase, namely. There is a striking similarity between the patterns shown by common vole populations in south-west France and those from Fennoscandian cyclic rodent populations, although the former are not consistent with a geographical extension of the latitudinal gradient south of Fennoscandia. 4. It is possible that the dominant interaction leading to multiannual rodent oscillations is different in different regions. We argue, however, that advocates of the predation hypothesis should embrace the challenge of developing a widely applicable explanation to population cycles, including justifying any limits to its applicability on ecological and not geographical grounds.     

Breeding suppression between two unrelated and initially unfamiliar females occurs with or without social tolerance in common voles (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Microtus arvalis</Emphasis>)

Female common voles can breed in small groups or in isolation. Given the option, will isolated females opt for communal breeding with unrelated females and a probable low reproductive bias, or will they remain isolated, forgoing the advantages of group living? This laboratory work examined the response of two unrelated females to a foreign male in order to determine their social and breeding strategies. Before encountering a male, 70% of the females lived communally and 30% were solitary with a dominance hierarchy. In the presence of the male, only 33% of the females were still associated and lived with the male in a communal nest. In the other triads, only the oldest female lived with the male and she dominated the younger female. Although all animals were then experimentally separated to avoid late abortion due to social stress or infanticide, in 89% of the dyads only one female littered. This breeding suppression happened in hierarchic dyads but also in tolerant ones. This laboratory study on the social influence on reproduction showed that breeding suppression can occur in unrelated female common voles even when they are not closely grouped. It suggests that cooperative breeding between unrelated females should remain rare.     

不同生存条件下东方田鼠肝脏基因表达谱分析

目的比较实验室条件下饲养的东方田鼠和野外捕捉东方田鼠肝脏的基因表达差异,寻找可能参与肝脏病变的关键基因。方法以实验室条件饲养的东方田鼠和野外捕捉东方田鼠为研究对象,分别抽提RNA,逆转录成cDNA,体外转录为cRNA并进行片段化;利用表达谱芯片分别进行杂交,扫描后筛选差异基因,并应用real-time PCR方法对部分基因的表达水平进行进一步测定,验证芯片数据的结果。结果实验室饲养东方田鼠肝组织与野外捕捉东方田鼠相比,共有99个基因和41个EST差异表达。其中参与机体代谢的基因占主导,约占35.4%;其次为参与信号通路的基因,约占24.2%;参与细胞周期和免疫的基因分别占6.1%和3.0%。结论利用基因表达谱芯片初步筛选了可能参与东方田鼠脂肪肝形成过程的基因,发现机体代谢通路的基因占主导,肝脏中细胞色素家族基因表达差异明显。