Abstract
Spacing behavior is thought to be an important means of population regulation, but the phenomenon itself is poorly understood, especially in cryptic, secretive small mammals, in this study 1 examined the behavior and degree of spacing among California voles (Microtus californicus) freely ranging in a large observation room housing a complex environment. Reproductive males were the most intrasexually aggressive group and also maintained the greatest distances among themselves. Reproductive females were moderately aggressive but did not space themselves more widely than less aggressive, non-reproductive females. Reproductive females approached each other more often, showing a stronger social attraction, than nonreproductive females, while the latter tended to behave amicably towards one another when chance encounters occurred. Thus, the degree of spacing among individuals appears to depend on complex behavioral interactions and is not a simple function of aggression. Reproductive males behaved aggressively at the site of a caged estrous female significantly more frequently than expected by chance, indicating that potential mates constitute the "resource" eliciting most intense competition among males. Reproductive females behaved aggressively at all sites in proportion to the amount of time spent there and thus appeared to compete for "space" or for all resources equally. These results are applied to a recent field study that showed more pronounced territoriality among male than among female M. californicus, and to more general theories of population regulation of microtine rodents.
Published Version
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