Indirect effects of least weasel presence on fi eld vole behaviour and demography : a fi eld experiment
نویسنده
چکیده
Predation by small mustelids is widely considered to be the most likely mechanism to maintain multiannual fl uctuations of vole populations in Fennoscandia. Apart from the direct effect of predation, small mustelids have been suggested to have indirect effects on vole population dynamics. We studied in a fi eld experiment the indirect effects of the presence of the least weasel (Mustela nivalis nivalis) on behaviour and demography of fi eld voles (Microtus agrestis). We constructed grids made of drainpipe with small holes and covering an area of 0.24 ha (4 ¥ 6-m grid, pipes with 10-m intervals). A least weasel moved in the experimental grid without having access to voles during the entire experiment, lasting for 11 weeks. We analysed the rate of maturation, breeding success, movements, and home range use of fi eld voles in the experimental and control grids. The results indicate that weasel’s presence had no or had only minor effects on voles.
منابع مشابه
Body size-dependent refuges in voles: an alternative explanation of the Chitty effect
In cyclic vole populations the body size of voles tends to vary with population density, voles being smaller in the decline and low density phases than in the peak phase of the cycle. We have studied this ‘Chitty effect ̓ using fi eld measurements of vole (Microtus agrestis, M. rossiaemeridionalis) body size and predator densities, and laboratory experiments on the minimum passable hole size for...
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