scholarly journals Ecology of red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus Pall.) on the southwestern periphery of the area

Author(s):  
Эрнест Викторович Ивантер ◽  
Елена Анатольевна Моисеева
1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Morlan

Bluefish Caves 1, 2, and 3 have produced tens of thousands of vertebrate remains among which at least nine species of microtine rodents are represented: red-backed vole, Clethrionomys rutilus; collared lemming, Dicrostonyx torquatus; brown lemming, Lemmus sibiricus; singing vole, Microtus miurus; tundra vole, Microtus oeconomus; meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus; yellow-cheeked or taiga vole, Microtus xanthognathus; muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus; and northern bog lemming, Synaptomys borealis. Late Pleistocene and Holocene components are clearly distinguishable from one another in each of the three caves, and each component can be subdivided within cave 1. This paper discusses (i) variations in taxonomic abundance through time and between site areas, (ii) contrasts in microhabitat between north-facing cave 1 and south-facing cave 2, and (iii) decreases in tooth size that may reflect a reduction in the length of the growing season. A general decrease in diversity is shown to involve increased dominance and decreased species richness and evenness. These changes are attributed to postglacial zonation of habitat.


1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale D. Feist ◽  
Mario Rosenmann

The calorigenic response (millilitres O2 per gram per hour) to injected norepinephrine (NE) was compared as an index of nonshivering thermogenesis (NST) in the following groups of the Alaskan red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus): (1) summer, (2) fall acclimatized, (3) winter acclimatized, (4) 20 °C acclimated and (5) 5 °C acclimated. The metabolic response was tested at thermoneutrality (25 °C) and during cold exposure (5 °C).Winter acclimatized voles showed a significantly greater metabolic response to NE than summer voles at both 25 °C and 5 °C. In summer or winter voles the total metabolic rate after NE (MNE) was similar at 25 °C and 5 °C but the fraction of the total caused by exogenous NE was lower at 5 °C. Thus, thermogenesis during cold exposure and resulting from exogenous NE appear to be based on the same mechanism, and NE has thermoregulatory significance in these voles. The magnitude of the NE response in winter voles was comparable to the highest values reported for bats and exceeded levels reported for other adult small mammal species. Summer acclimatized voles and those acclimated to 20 °C in the laboratory were comparable in their response to NE but winter acclimatized voles were significantly more sensitive to NE than voles acclimated to 5 °C. The seasonal winter peak in MNE coincided with peaks previously found for maximum metabolic capacity (Mmax), maximum brown fat, and the period of coldest temperatures in December–January. The ratio of MNE to Mmax was similar throughout the year. The results suggest that small arctic–subarctic rodents have a greater capacity for NE stimulated NST than rodents from temperate latitudes probably because they are acclimatized to colder seasonal conditions.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 1870-1879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Galindo ◽  
Charles J. Krebs

In this study we investigated the influence of competitive interactions on the use of habitats and relative abundance of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). If interspecific competition is influencing the habitat use and relative abundance of deer mice, then removal or introduction of potential competitors will change habitat use and abundance of this species. During the first field season we removed meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to look at the effect on the contiguous population of deer mouse. The removal of one species had no effect on the other species' distribution or demography. In the second field season, meadow voles declined to very low numbers and we used their natural fluctuation as a removal experiment. Deer mouse populations were not affected even when the natural decline of meadow voles was more effective in maintaining the sedge meadow free of voles than the previous removal manipulation was. During the 3rd year, meadow voles colonized two areas of forest where deer mice had been alone the previous two field seasons. Red-backed voles (Clethrionomys rutilus), in turn, increased from very low numbers in four grids. Neither meadow voles nor red-backed voles affected the spatial distribution or abundance of deer mice. The results of this study indicate that competitive interactions have no influence on the use of habitats and relative abundance of the common species of small mammals in the southwestern Yukon.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 2115-2122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon R. Burns

Populations of Clethrionomys rutilus were studied on two islands (Island 2 and Green Island) in the Mackenzie River during the summers of 1976 to 1978. This was done to examine the demographic parameters related to confinement of northern red-backed vole populations on islands.The number of voles on Island 2 in 1977 increased until late June and then remained nearly constant until trapping ceased in late August. On Green Island in 1977 and 1978 and Island 2 in 1978, populations grew all summer and even in August had not reached the densities found during the 1977 high on Island 2. Island 2 in 1977 had an unusually low number of maturing young voles. Higher wounding rates and shorter adjusted range lengths were associated with higher population densities.Although high densities of voles were reached early in the summer of 1977 on Island 2, numbers stopped increasing before the end of the breeding season. Restraint of growth potential was seen in poor maturation of the young and in declining juvenile survival and recruitment of young through summer.


1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Sealander

Seasonal variations in hemoglobin and hematocrit values were determined in the northern red-backed mouse, Clethrionomys rutilus dawsoni, from July 1963 through August 1964 in the vicinity of College, Alaska. Hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrits did not show any significant seasonal variation. The relative constancy of the blood values was considered to be a reflection of the rather uniform thermal characteristics of the microenvironment inhabited by the mice. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations followed a cycle which varied inversely with the ambient macroenvironmental temperature, while net body weights followed a seasonal cycle which was directly correlated with the ambient temperature of the macroenvironment.


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