Abstract
BackgroundSocial behaviour has been linked to hypotheses explaining multiannual population cycles of small rodents. In this paper we aimed to test empirically that the degree of space sharing among adult breeding female voles is higher during the increase phase than in the crash phase, and that the degree of sociality is positively related to population growth rate as suggested by Lambin and Krebs (Oikos 61:126–132, 1991) and Andreassen et al. (Oikos 122:507–515, 2013). We followed 24 natural bank vole Myodes glareolus populations over an area of 113 km2 by monthly live trapping throughout a complete population cycle of three summers and two winters.ResultsUsing spatially explicit capture-recapture models, we modelled the overlap in adult female home ranges and total population growth rate per season. We identified an increase phase before and during the peak density observation and a crash phase following the peak. Female home range overlap were seasonal- and phase-dependent, while population growth rate was associated with season and female home range overlap. High female home range overlap in the increase phase corresponded to a high population growth rate.ConclusionsWe suggest that intrinsic social behaviour plays a key role in the increase phase of vole population cycles, as social behaviour leads to an increased growth rate, whereas extrinsic factors (predation and/or food) initiate the crash phase. Our results are consistent with those of other studies in a variety of small rodent species.
Highlights
Social behaviour has been linked to hypotheses explaining multiannual population cycles of small rodents
We suggest that intrinsic social behaviour plays a key role in the increase phase of vole population cycles, as social behaviour leads to an increased growth rate, whereas extrinsic factors initiate the crash phase
The generality of the association we observed between changes in territorial behaviour and phase of the population cycles may be questioned because it is based on only one population cycle, our observations came from 24 populations across 3 transects covering a large area (113 km2 area between the most distant grids)
Summary
Social behaviour has been linked to hypotheses explaining multiannual population cycles of small rodents. Social interactions linked to territoriality are among many factors contributing to the shaping of mammalian population dynamics [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. For small secretive species in which it is hard to determine whether a territory is actively defended or not, territoriality is generally defined as an exclusive use of space [11]. Regardless of whether active defence occurs or not, the result of territorial behaviour is the exclusive use of space, and territoriality is a factor which can limit population size.
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