Social tolerance and proximate mechanisms of dispersal among winter groups of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

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.

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Experimental analysis of behaviour of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to odours of the short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea)

Ecoscience ◽

10.1080/11956860.1996.11682316 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 63-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Glen Joseph Parsons ◽

Søren Bondrup-Nielsen

Keyword(s):

Experimental Analysis ◽

Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽

Meadow Voles ◽

Mustela Erminea

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

Current Zoology ◽

10.1093/czoolo/57.1.43 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 43-49 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

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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