Seasonal variations of diet composition in farmland field mice Apodemus spp. and bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus

Udina, I. G.; Shaikhaev, G. O.

doi:10.4098/at.arch.98-49

Cited by 68 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This finding is consistent with their granivorous habits and confirms the fact that this genus strictly relies on acorn production in oakdominated forests (Margaletic and Glavas 2002). On the contrary M. glareolus responded negatively to acorns, and its positive response to shrubs (such as hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, or blackthorn, Prunus spinosa) is probably related to the availability of leaves, flowers and fruits, which are an important component of its diet (Abt and Bock 1998). Furthermore, M. glareolus is known to rely on a developed shrub structure as a protection from predators, compared to the more agile and faster Apodemus spp.…”

Section: Determinants Of Species' Distributionssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…body mass of A. sylvaticus decreased by just 0.72 grams in presence of high density of bank voles), confirming the limited interference that M. glareolus has with coexisting Apodemus populations (Lambin and Bauchau 1989;Abt and Bock 1998).…”

Section: Effect Of Competitorssupporting

confidence: 69%

“…Niche overlapping between M. glareolus and Apodemus spp. is less pronounced as M. glareolus is more herbivorous, preferring items such as leaves and fruits, but also consuming insects, seeds and fungi to a smaller extent (Gębczyńska 1983;Abt and Bock 1998). Furthermore, M. glareolus has a different pattern of daily rhythms compared to Apodemus spp., showing multiple peaks of activity during both night and day (Wójcik and Wolk 1985;Canova 1993).…”

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis have highly overlapping trophic niches and daily activity rhythms, whereas overlap with M. glareolus is less pronounced (e.g. Canova 1993; Abt and Bock 1998). A. flavicollis is known to behaviourally dominate A. sylvaticus and M. glareolus both in field and experimental conditions, whereas there is no clear dominance hierarchy between A. sylvaticus and M. glareolus (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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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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Section: Determinants Of Species' Distributionssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Effect Of Competitorssupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Study Speciesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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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“…Interestingly, beechnut (Fagus sylvatica) production was particularly pronounced (personal observation), a food source for woodmice (Apodemus sp.) and bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) (Abt and Bock 1998;Margaletic et al 2005), the staple prey species in the study area (Roulin et al 2008b). Thus, beechnut densities should be proportional to prey densities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pale and dark reddish melanic tawny owls differentially regulate the level of blood circulating POMC prohormone in relation to environmental conditions

et al. 2011

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Knowledge of the hormonal pathway controlling genotype-specific norms of reaction would shed light on the ecological factors to which each genotype is adapted. Environmentally mediated changes in the sign and magnitude of covariations between heritable melanin-based colouration and fitness components are frequent, revealing that extreme melanin-based phenotypes can display different physiological states depending on the environment. Yet, the hormonal mechanism underlying this phenomenon is poorly understood. One novel hypothesis proposes that these covariations stem from pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin system. Melanocortins are post-translationally modified bioactive peptides derived from the POMC prohormone that are involved in melanogenesis, anti-inflammation, energy homeostasis and stress responses. Thus, differential regulation of fitness components in relation to environmental factors by pale and dark melanic individuals may be due to colour-specific regulation of the POMC prohormone. Accordingly, we found that the degree of reddish melanic colouration was negatively correlated with blood circulating levels of the POMC prohormone in female tawny owls (Strix aluco) rearing a brood for which the size was experimentally reduced, but not when enlarged, and in females located in rich but not in poor territories. Our findings support the hypothesis that the widespread links between melanin-based colouration and fitness components may be mediated, at least in part, by the melanocortin system.

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Is the diet cyclic phase‐dependent in boreal vole populations?

Neby,

Ims,

Kamenova

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Herbivorous rodents in boreal, alpine and arctic ecosystems are renowned for their multi‐annual population cycles. Researchers have hypothesised that these cycles may result from herbivore–plant interactions in various ways. For instance, if the biomass of preferred food plants is reduced after a peak phase of a cycle, rodent diets can be expected to become dominated by less preferred food plants, leading the population to a crash. It could also be expected that the taxonomic diversity of rodent diets increases from the peak to the crash phase of a cycle. The present study is the first to use DNA metabarcoding to quantify the diets of two functionally important boreal rodent species (bank vole and tundra vole) to assess whether their diet changed systematically in the expected cyclic phase‐dependent manner. We found the taxonomic diet spectrum broad in both vole species but with little interspecific overlap. There was no evidence of systematic shifts in diet diversity metrics between the phases of the population cycle in either species. While both species' diet composition changed moderately between cycle phases and seasons, these changes were small compared to other sources of diet variation—especially differences between individuals. Thus, the variation in diet that could be attributed to cyclic phases is marginal relative to the overall diet flexibility. Based on general consumer‐resource theory, we suggest that the broad diets with little interspecific overlap render it unlikely that herbivore–plant interactions generate their synchronous population cycles. We propose that determining dietary niche width should be the first step in scientific inquiries about the role of herbivore–plant interactions in cyclic vole populations.

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Seasonal variations of diet composition in farmland field mice Apodemus spp. and bank voles Clethrionomys glareolus

Cited by 68 publications

References 14 publications

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

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

Pale and dark reddish melanic tawny owls differentially regulate the level of blood circulating POMC prohormone in relation to environmental conditions

Is the diet cyclic phase‐dependent in boreal vole populations?

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