North American weasels: resource utilization and distribution

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 504-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Simms
Keyword(s):  
Resource Utilization ◽  
North American ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
General Distributions ◽  
Successional Communities

A livetrapping program, augmented by enclosure experiments, was undertaken to study resource utilization by ermine (Mustela erminea) and long-tailed weasels (M. frenata) in southern Ontario. Data on food habits, habitat preferences, foraging strategies, and competitive interactions were collected. Based on this information, a theory was formulated to explain the distribution or North American weasels. Ermine fed primarily on meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and had body diameters closely approximating those of meadow voles, enabling them to readily exploit these items in subnivean and subterranean environments. Long-tailed weasels were larger and their feeding habits were more general. Dietary overlap between the two species in areas of sympatry was 57.5%. Regarding habitat preferences, ermine selected successional communities, whereas long-tailed weasels showed no preferences. Overlap in areas of sympatry was 76.9%.Long-tailed weasels appear to be limited in their northward distribution by snow cover which restricts the size of foraging spaces, thereby conferring an advantage to the smaller weasels. Conversely, the southward distributions of ermine and least weasels (M. nivalis) appear to be limited by interference interactions with long-tailed weasels. Where ermine and least weasels are sympatric, size differences and general distributions suggest that they hunt different prey in different habitats.

Digestive organ morphology, diet, and guild structure of North American Anatidae

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 1812-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory G. Barnes ◽  
Vernon G. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Canada Geese ◽  
Guild Structure ◽  
Diet Diversity ◽  
Branta Bernicla ◽  
Carnivorous Species ◽  
Clangula Hyemalis

Discriminant function, cluster, and covariate analyses of gizzard, small intestine, and ceca weights were used to quantify the structure of feeding guilds and the effects of diet on gut morphology for 18 species of North American anatids. Guild structure based on gut measurements closely approximated that identified by generalized feeding habits. Herbivorous species such as Brant (Branta bernicla), Gadwall (Anas strepera), Redheads (Aythya americana), Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), and Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) consistently had heavier gizzards and ceca than carnivorous species such as Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis), and Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser). Omnivorous species such as Lesser Scaup (Aythya afftnis), Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), and American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) were characterized by heavy gizzards, intermediate ceca, and heavy intestines. The results provide further evidence that intestine size is primarily influenced by overall diet diversity and suggest that gut size may be used to indicate general food habits. The ability of waterfowl to adjust gut sizes and accommodate dietary changes is restricted to ranges dictated by the most frequently eaten foods. Thus, predictions of general food habits can be made without knowledge of the foods being consumed at a particular time and location.

Dimorphisme sexuel et régime alimentaire de l'hermine dans un agrosystème du Québec

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 594-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Raymond ◽  
Jean-Marie Bergeron ◽  
Yves Plante
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Important Food ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Blarina Brevicauda ◽  
Food Components ◽  
Dimorphisme Sexuel ◽  
Sorex Cinereus ◽  
Males And Females

Variations in the diet of the ermin (Mustela erminea) were studied from 1978 to 1980 in relation to the relative availability of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), the dominant mammal of Southern Quebec agrosystems. The analysis of 328 ermine scat samples showed that the vole does constitute the main prey item, but that the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), the short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda), and various birds are also important food components. Male ermins have more flexible feeding habits than females, who eat mostly meadow voles whatever their relative abundance. Both males and females fail to make full use of the shrews and avoid prey that weigh more than 50 g. Overlap of their realized alimentary niches is thus considerable except when small mammals are scarce. In that case, males and females use different feeding strategies; however, the hypothesis suggested by J. H. Brown and R. C. Lasiewsky (1972. Ecology, 53: 939–943) does not seem to be confirmed. The evolution of size dimorphism in this small mustelid is discussed; our results confirm the intra-sexual selection hypothesis proposed independantly by S. Erlinge (1979. Oikos, 33: 233–245) and P. J. Moors (1980. Oikos, 34: 147–158).[Journal translation]

L'alimentation estivale du campagnol des champs, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Ord.

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 2028-2032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marie Bergeron ◽  
Jacques Juillet
Keyword(s):  
Stomach Content ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Animal Feeds ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Common Plant

Stomach content analyses performed on 272 meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) revealed that the animal feeds on 35 of the 45 species of plant present in its habitat. Timothy is the most abundant and the most common plant in the vole's diet. The abundance of the plants sampled in the habitat is positively correlated with the abundance of the plants found in the stomach contents. However, some species, like meadow grass (Poa spp.), aredefinitely preferred by the voles since they appear more frequently in the stomach contents than in the habitat. Some feeding habits are also sex dependent.[Translated by the journal]

Winter coexistence of voles in spruce forest: relevance of seasonal changes in aggression

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 1004-1011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian N. Turner ◽  
Michael R. Perrin ◽  
Stuart L. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Vole ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Spruce Forest ◽  
Vole Population ◽  
Reproductive Condition ◽  
Interspecific Aggression ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Nonbreeding Season ◽  
Short Period

Beginning in November 1973, numerous meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) moved onto a spruce forest grid occupied by red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi). A resident meadow vole population resulted, the two species coexisting until April 1974, when most meadow voles disappeared from the grid during a relatively short period. Interspecific aggression levels, as determined from voles temporarily removed from the populations and tested in paired encounters in a laboratory arena, were low during the winter, but increased when males of both species entered reproductive condition in the spring. Microtus was generally dominant in early breeding period encounters, but this dominance declined concurrently with the meadow voles' disappearance from the forest. It is argued that meadow voles did not leave the forest to breed, or because the snow cover melted, since this species will live and reproduce in forest in the absence of Clethrionomys. The results are interpreted as support for an earlier hypothesis that competitive habitat exclusion varies seasonally with reproduction-related aggression. Thus, these species apparently may coexist in either of their preferred habitats when interspecific aggression is low (the nonbreeding season), but this relationship terminates when interspecific aggression levels increase with the resumption of breeding in the spring.

Sexual Dimorphism and Food Habits in Three North American Accipiters

The Auk ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Storer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
North American ◽  
Food Habits

scholarly journals The duration of sociosexual behaviors in male meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus varies before, during, and after copulation

2011 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashlee A. Vaughn ◽  
Daniel A. Ferkin ◽  
Javier Delbarco-Trillo ◽  
Michael H. Ferkin
Keyword(s):  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Meadow Voles

Abstract The behaviors that surround copulation are characterized as sociosexual behaviors. These behaviors displayed by males that are directed at females may include allogrooming, wrestling, chasing, approach, and time spent together. The data supported the hypothesis that the duration of sociosexual behaviors differs during the pre-copulatory, peri-copulatory, and post-copulatory phases of the mating bout in meadow voles. Voles spent more time approaching conspecifics during the pre- and peri-copulatory phases than during the post-copulatory phase. Voles spent more time allogrooming, wrestling, and chasing during the pre-copulatory phase than during the peri- and post-copulatory phases. Voles spent similar amounts of time together during the pre-, peri-, and post-copulatory phases. The data suggest that sociosexual behaviors displayed by males may be involved in setting the pace and temporal components of the mating bout. During the pre-copulatory phase particular behaviors by male voles may attract females, during the peri-copulatory phase some of these behaviors may stimulate or motivate the female to mate, and during the post-copulatory phase certain behaviors may prepare the male to mate again.

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