Asymmetrical competition between the bank vole and the wood mouse, a removal experiment

Fasola, Mauro; Canova, Luca

doi:10.4098/at.arch.00-35

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Likewise, two spiny pocket mice, Heteromys australis Thomas and Heteromys anomalus (Thompson), in northwestern South America use diVerent habitats in sympatry, whereas Heteromys anomalus inhabits areas ecologically suitable for both species in an isolated area where Heteromys australis is absent likely for historical reasons (Anderson et al 2002). This, and other examples for rodents (Fasola and Canova 2000) and gulls (Kildaw 1999), also indicate that both present and past competition inXuence habitat use of populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Asymmetric competition drives lake use of coexisting salmonids

Jönsson¹,

Jönsson²,

Hindar

et al. 2008

Oecologia

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To what degree are population differences in resource use caused by competition and the occupation of adjacent positions along environmental gradients evidence of competition? Habitat use may be the result of a competitive lottery, or restricted by competition. We tested to what extent population differences in habitat use of two salmonids, cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) and Dolly Varden charr (Salvelinus malma) were influenced by interspecific competition. We hypothesized that the depth distribution of Dolly Varden charr would be affected by competition from the more littoral and surface-oriented cutthroat trout, and that the depth distribution of cutthroat trout would be little affected by competition from Dolly Varden charr. Sympatric populations of cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden charr were created by reciprocal transfers of previously allopatric populations in two experimental lakes. We found evidence of asymmetric competition, as Dolly Varden charr were displaced from littoral habitats when sympatric with cutthroat trout, whereas cutthroat trout remained unaffected by the presence of Dolly Varden charr. Evolved differences between the species, and differences between experimental lakes, also contributed to population differences in habitat use, but asymmetric competition remained as the main driver of different depth distributions in sympatry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Asymmetric competition drives lake use of coexisting salmonids

Jönsson¹,

Jönsson²,

Hindar

et al. 2008

Oecologia

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“…As a measure of individual body condition (we stress that to control for ageeffects we excluded juveniles and sub-adults from this analysis), body mass can reflect the degree to which individuals manage to exploit resources in a site (e.g. Montgomery 1981;Fasola and Canova 2000). Our results show that, to a certain extent, all three species compete with each other for resources.…”

Section: Effect Of Competitorsmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Montgomery 1981;Fasola and Canova 2000), which reflects a possible inhibition of reproduction in presence of competitors. The response variable was coded as 1 when a female was in reproductive status (pregnant or in lactation) and as 0 when it was not reproductive; only adult females were included in this analysis.…”

Section: Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Empirical evaluation of the strength of interspecific competition in shaping small mammal communities in fragmented landscapes

Sozio

Mortelliti

2015

Landscape Ecol

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Context Theory predicts that habitat loss and fragmentation may have drastic consequences on species' interactions. To date, however, little empirical evidence exists on the strength of interspecific competition in shaping animal communities in fragmented landscapes. Objectives Our aim was to measure the degree of ongoing competitive interference between species in fragmented landscapes. Our model system was the community of ground-dwelling rodents in deciduous woodlands in central Italy, composed of a habitat generalist species (Apodemus sylvaticus) and two forest specialists (Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus). Our objectives were to test whether species were segregated among forest patches and whether spatial segregation was determined by interspecific competition or habitat and resource availability. Methods We surveyed the populations inhabiting 29 woodland patches in a highly fragmented landscape using a capture-mark-recapture protocol, capturing [4500 individuals. First we modelled species' distribution as a function of habitat, resource availability and landscape variables. The second stage of our analyses involved measuring the response of vital rate parameters (body mass, reproduction, survival, recruitment, population density) to competitor density.Results The relative distribution of species reflected a spatial segregation of habitat generalists and specialists according to habitat quality, cover and connectivity. Interspecific competition mainly affected individual level vital rates, whereas we found no substantial effects at the population level.Conclusions Competitive exclusion of specialist species by generalist species was occurring. However, when compared to other factors such as habitat connectivity and resource availability, interspecific competition played a relatively minor role in shaping the studied community.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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“…These studies lead to the hypothesis, that in Ireland, there should be no interaction between invasive bank voles and wood mice. However, Fasola and Canova (2000) indicated that there was a population level, negative asymmetry in the interaction between the bank vole and wood mouse based on a removal experiment designed to test the hypothesis that interspecific competition occurs between these species perhaps exposing a weakness of conventional, smallscale, observational studies. There are few comparable studies involving the greater white-toothed shrew and pygmy shrew but the known biology of these primarily insectivorous species (Fons 1972;Grainger and Fairley 1978;Bever 1983;Meharg, Montgomery and Dunwoody 1990), the former being approximately three times larger than the latter (Harris and Yalden 2008), again gives little indication of any strong interspecific interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

‘Invasional meltdown’: evidence for unexpected consequences and cumulative impacts of multispecies invasions

2011

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Empirical support for 'invasional meltdown', where the presence of one invading species facilitates another and compounds negative impacts on indigenous species, is equivocal with few convincing studies. In Ireland, the bank vole was introduced 80 years ago and now occupies a third of the island. The greater white-toothed shrew arrived more recently within the invasive range of the bank vole. We surveyed the abundance of both invasive species and two indigenous species, the wood mouse and pygmy shrew, throughout their respective ranges. The negative effects of invasive on indigenous species were strong and cumulative bringing about species replacement. The greater white-toothed shrew, the second invader, had a positive and synergistic effect on the abundance of the bank vole, the first invader, but a negative and compounding effect on the abundance of the wood mouse and occurrence of the pygmy shrew. The gradual replacement of the wood mouse by the bank vole decreased with distance from the point of the bank vole's introduction whilst no pygmy shrews were captured where both invasive species were present. Such interactions may not be unique to invasions but characteristic of all multispecies communities. Small mammals are central in terrestrial food webs and compositional changes to this community in Ireland are likely to reverberate throughout the ecosystem. Vegetation composition and structure, invertebrate communities and the productivity of avian and mammalian predators are likely to be affected. Control of these invasive species may only be effected through landscape and habitat management.

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Asymmetrical competition between the bank vole and the wood mouse, a removal experiment

Cited by 27 publications

References 33 publications

Asymmetric competition drives lake use of coexisting salmonids

Asymmetric competition drives lake use of coexisting salmonids

Empirical evaluation of the strength of interspecific competition in shaping small mammal communities in fragmented landscapes

‘Invasional meltdown’: evidence for unexpected consequences and cumulative impacts of multispecies invasions

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