Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis )
Research on mammals and birds has shown that predation may have indirect effects on prey reproduction. Some of the indirect effects may give prey an adaptive advantage. Females of several vole species respond to the presence of predators from the genus Mustela L., 1758 with suppressed breeding; this...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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2013
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 2023-12-17T10:33:25+01:00 Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) Jochym, M. Halle, S. 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 91, issue 5, page 281-286 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2013 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 2023-11-19T13:39:33Z Research on mammals and birds has shown that predation may have indirect effects on prey reproduction. Some of the indirect effects may give prey an adaptive advantage. Females of several vole species respond to the presence of predators from the genus Mustela L., 1758 with suppressed breeding; this response increases females’ chances of survival. However, breeding suppression is observed only in a certain part of the female population; it is unclear whether predation risk affects the remaining females. We investigated this in a capture–mark–recapture experiment on reproductive effort of female common voles (Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778)) facing simulated presence of mustelid predators. We measured two parameters: the number of recruits per litter and the litter interval. Compared with control populations, the number of recruits per litter was not affected, but the litter interval was longer in females facing mustelid risk of predation. This indicates that predation risk affects females in a more complex way than originally proposed: it induces breeding suppression in some, but also influences litter frequency in others. Our result suggests that predatory stress deregulates the estrous cycle. Decreased frequency of litters can be a viable antipredatory adaptation in iteroparous organisms. Article in Journal/Newspaper Microtus arvalis Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canadian Journal of Zoology 91 5 281 286 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Jochym, M. Halle, S. Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Research on mammals and birds has shown that predation may have indirect effects on prey reproduction. Some of the indirect effects may give prey an adaptive advantage. Females of several vole species respond to the presence of predators from the genus Mustela L., 1758 with suppressed breeding; this response increases females’ chances of survival. However, breeding suppression is observed only in a certain part of the female population; it is unclear whether predation risk affects the remaining females. We investigated this in a capture–mark–recapture experiment on reproductive effort of female common voles (Microtus arvalis (Pallas, 1778)) facing simulated presence of mustelid predators. We measured two parameters: the number of recruits per litter and the litter interval. Compared with control populations, the number of recruits per litter was not affected, but the litter interval was longer in females facing mustelid risk of predation. This indicates that predation risk affects females in a more complex way than originally proposed: it induces breeding suppression in some, but also influences litter frequency in others. Our result suggests that predatory stress deregulates the estrous cycle. Decreased frequency of litters can be a viable antipredatory adaptation in iteroparous organisms. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jochym, M. Halle, S. |
author_facet |
Jochym, M. Halle, S. |
author_sort |
Jochym, M. |
title |
Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
title_short |
Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
title_full |
Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
title_fullStr |
Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( Microtus arvalis ) |
title_sort |
influence of predation risk on recruitment and litter intervals in common voles ( microtus arvalis ) |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 91, issue 5, page 281-286 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2012-0249 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
91 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
281 |
op_container_end_page |
286 |
_version_ |
1785587399993065472 |