Effect of a predator's visit on the spatial distribution of bank voles: experiments with weasels

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 660-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Włodzimierz Jędrzejewski ◽  
Bogumiła Jędrzejewska
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Bank Voles ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outdoor Enclosure ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Mustela Nivalis ◽  
Series Of Experiments

A series of experiments in seminatural conditions with bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780) and weasels Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766 was designed to show if (i) a short visit by a weasel into an area, and (ii) its scent alone left there, would influence the use of space by bank voles, and whether the age, sex, and reproductive activity of bank voles would differentiate their responses to the risk of predation. Forty-five bank voles were released into an outdoor enclosure (150 m2) divided into three pens of equal size. The risk of predation was manipulated by introducing a weasel into either one or two pens for 24 or 2 h. Changes in the use of space by voles were determined by livetrapping in pens for 11 days after each manipulation. The pens that had been penetrated by weasels were avoided by voles for several days following each introduction of a weasel. The pens where prey had contacted a predator, or where only the odour of a weasel remained, were equally avoided by voles. Sex- and age-related differences in response to risk were noted in bank voles: subadults and nonreproductive adults of both sexes, and reproductively active adult males, shifted their positions significantly after a weasel had penetrated their home pen. Juveniles of both sexes and reproducing females did not abandon their ranges.

Use of space by bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) in a polish farm landscape

1993 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michŀ Kozakiewicz ◽  
Anna Kozakiewicz ◽  
Aleksy Łukowski ◽  
Tomasz Gortat
Keyword(s):  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Bank Voles

Urine marking by male bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber, 1780; Microtidae, Rodentia) in relation to their social rank

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (11) ◽  
pp. 2594-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francine M. Rozenfeld ◽  
E. Le Boulangé ◽  
R. Rasmont
Keyword(s):  
Social Rank ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Bank Voles ◽  
Urine Marking ◽  
Hierarchical Groups ◽  
Free Interaction ◽  
Territorial Marking

Available ecological data suggest that mature males of Clethrionomys species form stable hierarchical groups during the breeding season. The present laboratory work reports on the agonistic and urinary behaviour of paired, hierarchically naive, male bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) before, during, and after free interaction in large enclosures provided with individual burrows. In this situation, a generally stable dominance–subordination relationship is established. After a brief fighting episode, the subordinate is recognizable mainly by his avoidance behaviour out of his burrow. The subordinate's burrow itself becomes the focus of agonistic interactions. The staining of urine with unmetabolized vital dyes allowed differentiation of marking patterns. The correlation between these patterns and the hierarchical status of the animals is in accordance with the hypothesis that in bank voles, the urine of adult males contains chemical signals involved in maintaining their social organization. The spatial distribution of the urine marks of the dominant around the subordinate's nest suggests that they act as a territorial marking.

Stability of Social Status in Wild Rats: Age and the Role of Settled Dominance

Behaviour ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 193-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Manuel Berdoy ◽  
Pete Smith
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Dominance Relations ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Outdoor Enclosure ◽  
Wild Rats ◽  
The Stability

AbstractOne way of understanding the evolution of social dominance is to establish which factors determine an animal's ability to dominate conspecifics. The dynamics of dominance between 20 adult male wild rats were investigated in a multi-generational, free-breeding colony in a large outdoor enclosure. Dominance relations between the adult males were stable and organised in a near-linear hierarchy. Dyadic interactions not fitting the social hierarchy, as well as challenges by subordinates and overt aggression by dominants were rare (< 5%) and principally occurred between animals of similar social rank. The correlates of social status within the colony show, for the first time in adult small mammals, that despite the significant role of body weight on the probability of winning contests, age was the most reliable indicator of adult dominance, with the higher ranking males being older but not necessarily heavier. Age also explained the outcome of 85% of agonistic encounters between dyads, compared with 65% for weights. The proximate mechanisms of age-related dominance fit better the 'previous outcome' hypothesis than the alternative 'fighting skill' or 'site dominance' hypotheses. The stability of dominance relations and the role of age, which in stable groups is equivalent with time spent in the colony, suggest that rats remain dominant over individuals that they have beaten in the past, long after initial body weight asymmetries have disappeared. The functional significance of the acceptance of subordinate social status is consistent with the fact that dominant individuals generally could not monopolize food resources or mates.

Tethered-flight and Age-related Reproductive Performance of Helicoverpa punctigera (Wallengren) and H. armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Coombs
Keyword(s):  
Adult Life ◽  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Tethered Flight ◽  
Flight Capacity ◽  
Early Adult Life ◽  
Adult Lives ◽  
Lepidoptera Noctuidae ◽  
Adult Food

Flight capacity of female and male moths was age dependent in both H. punctigera and H. armigera using a tethered-flight technique. In H. punctigera, flight capacity increased from the first night following emergence up to Night 4, and was maintained at least until Night 10. In H. armigera, a peak in flight capacity occurred on Night 4, followed by a decline with increasing age. Long-flying moths (> 5 h duration) were evident in both species from the night following emergence. Attainment of reproductive maturity was rapid in both species, with 91% of H. punctigera and 77% of H. armigera ovipositing by Night 3. Hence, the increase in flight capacity recorded for both species during early adult life is coincident with the onset of reproductive activity. Both species retain the capacity for extensive inter-crop and inter-regional movement throughout most of the reproductive phase of their adult lives. Neither successful mating or the absence of adult food sources influenced flight capacity during early adult life.

Unique courtship and spawning behaviour in the wrinkled frog, Nyctibatrachus humayuni

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narahari P. Gramapurohit ◽  
Sachin M. Gosavi ◽  
Samadhan K. Phuge
Keyword(s):  
Paternal Care ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Spawning Site ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
South West Monsoon ◽  
Western Ghats Of India ◽  
Spawning Behaviour ◽  
Wet Rocks

AbstractFrogs of the genus Nyctibatrachus (family Nyctibatrachidae) exhibit a unique reproductive behaviour. They may completely lack or have an abbreviated amplexus, deposit terrestrial eggs and even offer paternal care. We studied the courtship and spawning behaviour of Nyctibatrachus humayuni from Matheran located in the northern region of the Western Ghats of India. The breeding season of N. humayuni coincides with the onset of south-west monsoon. Adult males vocalise from their calling sites on wet rocks/dead logs that often harbour egg clutches and females approach the calling males, resulting in a loose cephalic amplexus that lasts up to 10 minutes. The male dismounts and sits aside; then the female deposits the eggs and moves away from the spawning site or into the water. The mean clutch size and the egg diameter are found to be 30.3 ± 1.89 and 2.44 ± 0.04 mm, respectively. Once the female moves away following spawning, the male slowly moves on to the eggs and fertilises them. The males of N. humayuni appear to be territorial and offer parental care by attending the eggs only during night. Paternal egg attendance most probably reduces the risk of predation by nocturnal predators.

scholarly journals Demographic Factors Associated with Hantavirus Infection in Bank Voles (Clethrionomys glareolus)

2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 924-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert E. Olsson ◽  
Neil White ◽  
Clas Ahlm ◽  
Fredrik Elgh ◽  
Ann-Christin Verlemyr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Demographic Factors ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Hantavirus Infection ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Bank Voles

scholarly journals Hantavirus and arenavirus antibody prevalence in rodents and humans in Trentino, Northern Italy

2005 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 830-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. KALLIO-KOKKO ◽  
J. LAAKKONEN ◽  
A. RIZZOLI ◽  
V. TAGLIAPIETRA ◽  
I. CATTADORI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Neutralization Assay ◽  
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis ◽  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Common Finding ◽  
Wild Rodents ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Bank Voles ◽  
Dobrava Virus ◽  
Low Prevalence

The spatial and temporal distribution of hantavirus and arenavirus antibody-positive wild rodents in Trentino, Italy, was studied using immunofluorescence assays (IFA) in two long-term sites trapped in 2000–2003, and six other sites trapped in 2002. The overall hantavirus seroprevalence in the bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus (n=229) screened for Puumala virus (PUUV) antibodies was 0·4%, and that for Apodemus flavicollis mice (n=1416) screened for Dobrava virus (DOBV) antibodies was 0·2%. Antibodies against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) were found in 82 (5·6%) of the 1472 tested rodents; the seroprevalence being 6·1% in A. flavicollis (n=1181), 3·3% in C. glareolus (n=276), and 14·3% in Microtus arvalis (n=7). Of the serum samples of 488 forestry workers studied by IFA, 12 were LCMV-IgG positive (2·5%) and one DOBV-IgG positive (0·2%), however, the latter could not be confirmed DOBV-specific with a neutralization assay. Our results show a widespread distribution but low prevalence of DOBV in Trentino, and demonstrate that the arenavirus antibodies are a common finding in several other rodent species besides the house mouse.

WEASELS’ (MUSTELA NIVALIS NIVALIS) PREFERENCE FOR OLFACTORY CUES OF THE VOLE (CLETHRIONOMYS GLAREOLUS)

Ecology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 1447-1452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Ylönen ◽  
Janne Sundell ◽  
Raisa Tiilikainen ◽  
Jana A. Eccard ◽  
Taina Horne
Keyword(s):  
Clethrionomys Glareolus ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Mustela Nivalis
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